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'     BETTER  THAN  PHYSICf;  J 


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1%         EVERYBODY'S  LiFE -PRESERVER. 

BY 


W.  W.  HALL,  M.D.,  New  York, 

ACTHOB  OF  "  THE  GUIDE-BOARD,"  "  HEALTH  BY  GOOD  UVINO," 
"JOURNAL  OF  HEALTH,"  ETC. 


T/te  good  things  of  this  life  were  made  to  be  enjoyed. 
A  healthy  fool  is  happier  than  a  sick  Solomon. 
A  hearty  laugh  elevates  the  spirits,  and  enlivens  the 
circulation. 


CHICAGO   AND   NEW   YORK: 

Rand,  mcNally  &.  company,  Publishers. 

1892. 


Bntered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1884, 

By  rand,  McNALLY  &  CO., 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington, 


NOTE. 

To  induce  all  mankind  to  partake  of  the 
GOOD  THINGS  of  tliis  life,  and  believing  that 
Good  Food,  Puee  Air,  and  a  Cheerful  Dis- 
position are  the  best  elixirs,  we  have  been 
prompted  to  present  to  the  public  another 
volume  of  the  writings  of  Dr.  Hall,  trusting 
that  our  effort  will  prove  a  lasting  benefit,  not 
only  to  the  present,  but  to  generations  yet  to 
come. 

PUBMSHEES. 


A  BENTENCEj  a  line,  a  word,  has  sometimes 
made  such  a  deep  impression  on  a  man's 
mind  as  to  change  the  whole  plan  of  sub- 
sequent life,  and  make  or  mar  his  fortune. 

It  is  hoped  that  some  of  the  sentiments 
of  this  book  will  be  so  convincing  and  self- 
evident  as  to  fasten  themselves  on  the  mem- 
ory of  its  readers,  and  lead  them  to  make 
the  preservation  of  the  health  an  imperative 
DUTY;  considering  that,  without  it,  existence 
has  no  sunshine  —  is  a  burden  instead  of  a 

BLESsmo. 

The  Author. 


(«) 


DR.  HALL'S  MAXIMS. 


Human  life  is  a  talent,  a  privilege,  a  probation. 
To  live  to  purpose,  men  should  live  long,  in  order 
that  they  may  gain  experiences,  for  by  the  wiso 
use  of  these,  grand  things  are  said  and  done.  It 
then  follows  that  this  life  should  be  cherished  by 
all  those  practices  which  tend  to  preserve  it  in  its 
highest,  healthiest  forms,  and  to  its  greatest  dura- 
tion, and  therefore  health  is  a  duty  1 

It  is  interference  with  nature  which  kills  multi< 
tudes  of  those  who  die  of  disease,  as  it  is  the  de- 
fiance of  her  laws  which  made  those  multitudes 
sick. 

Life  being  hung  on  little  things,  its  preserva- 
tion is  a  daily  miracle ;  and  that  any  of  us  should 
arrive  at  mature  age,  is  owing  to  the  fact  that 
there  is  an  Eye  upon  us  which  never  sleeps,  the 
eye  of  a  Heavenly  Father,  whose  loving-kindness 
is  over  all  his  works ;  whose  "  mercies  are  new 
every  morning,  and  fresh  every  ovening." 

7 


8  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Nature  has  made  her  terms  with  us,  how  we 
may  enjoy  our  daily  existence  and  lengthen  out  our 
lives ;  these  terms  are,  to  know  her  laws,  and  not 
infringe  on  them. 

Whatever  position  a  man  finds  himself  placed  in, 
whether  by  accident,  fortunate  speculation,  or  per- 
severing industry,  he  should  always  retain  that 
command  over  himself  which  will  entitle  him  to  the 
good  will  of  old  as  well  as  new  friends. 

As  a  very  general  rule,  when  a  man  gets  sick  it 
is  his  own  fault,  the  result  of  either  ignorance  or 
presumption. 

We  ought  to  know  that  our  Maker  is  beneficent 
enough  to  cause  that  kind  of  food  to  flourish  most 
in  the  locality  where  the  human  residents  most 
need  its  elements.  How  strange  that  infatuation 
which  causes  us  constantly  to  overlook  the  multi- 
tudes of  evidences  about  us  of  the  forethought  of 
our  Creator !  This  great  principle  is  evidenced  in 
our  finding  meats  and  animal  oils  almost  exclusively 
as  the  aliment  of  the  Greenlander,  while  fruits  in 
rich  profusion  are  found  in  all  tropical  countries, 
fruits  being  cooling,  and  meats  and  oils  necessary 
to  keep  up  an  internal  fire  where  quicksilver 
freezes. 

More  people  die  prematurely  from  want  of  care 
in  any  given  year,  than  perish  by  plague,  famine, 
p«itilenc«,  and  war. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  9 

More  people  die  of  air-tight  rooms,  than  of  un- 
chinked  log-cabins. 

By  indulging  your  wives  in  frequent  excursions, 
three  or  four  times  in  a  year,  you  will  enlarge 
their  views  of  things,  increase  their  sociabilities, 
improve  their  health  and  their  tempers,  and  more, 
you  will  find  they  have  an  increasing  love  for 
home. 

Better  far  to  wear  out  in  moderate  and  useful 
activities,  than  to  rust  out  in  inglorious  ease. 
Sun,  moon,  and  stars ;  air,  earth  and  ocean ;  rill  and 
river ;  cascade  and  cataract ;  all,  by  their  ceaseless 
motion,  live.  There  is  not  an  atom  wholly  idle  in 
the  wide  universe.  Nor  should  man  be.  They 
are  for  time ;  he  for  eternity.  Their  destiny  is 
fixed  for  them ;  man  makes  his  own,  according  to 
the  work  of  his  hands. 

Physicians  may  rest  assured  that  if  the  instincts 
of  the  invalid  and  the  convalescent  were  more 
closely  observed  and  studied,  they  would  be  more 
successful,  with  less  medicine. 

We  believe  that  the  first  duty  of  a  theological 
student  is  to  take  care  of  his  health,  and  chew  He- 
brew roots  and  Greek  themes  afterwards. 

It  is  a  beautiful  fact,  that  while  the  warmth  and 
exposures  of  summer  tend  to  biliousness  and 
fevers,  the  free  use  of  fruits  and  berries  counter- 
aet«  that  tendency. 


10  DR.    hall's   maxims. 

All  of  us  feel  there  is  far  less  social  intercourse 
between  families  than  there  was  a  score  or  two  of 
years  ago ;  the  reason  of  which  is,  it  requires  so  much 
more  effort  to  keep  our  houses  and  ourselves  in  a  pre- 
sentable shape  that  we  have  no  time  to  make  an  old- 
fashioned  visit;  that  is,  to  go  and  see  a  neighbor  be- 
fore sundown,  and  stay  and  take  tea,  and  then  laugh 
and  talk  to  a  late  hour,  reaching  home  with  pleasant 
memories  of  the  good  cheer,  the  well-spread  table, 
and  the  vigorous  appetite  for  its  consumption.  All 
thoughtfiil  minds  should  cultivate  social  intercourse 
as  a  matter  of  principle,  and  pleasure,  and  duty;  it 
breaks  up  the  monotony  of  domestic  life,  it  promotes 
that  interchange  of  ideas  and  that  reciprocity  of  cour- 
tesies which  cherish  self-respect,  which  wake  up 
those  ambitions  and  commendable  rivalries  which  are 
calculated  to  elevate  the  individual  in  particular  and 
society  in  general. 

Much  time  should  be  bestowed  upon  the  selection 
of  the  path  one  is  to  pursue  for  life,  and  on  which 
a  whole  lifetime's  bread  and  butter  depend.  The 
boy's  character,  tastes  and  education — even  his  idio- 
syncrasies and  prejudices — should  be  consulted.  If 
a  choice  is  finally  made  that  suits  all  circumstances, 
the  selection  will  be  permanent  and  the  man  successful. 

At  the  present  day  there  is  a  great  fondness  for 
vegetable  medicines.  Anything  having  the  prefix 
of  vegetable  to  it  goes  down  with  the  multitude. 


DB.   hall's  HAXIMB.  11 

It  is  by  copying  after  nature,  man  makes  his 
greatest  and  most  useful  discoveries. 

Let  our  children  starve  for  bread  rather  than 
for  air.  Let  us  see  to  it  that  their  apartments,  at 
home  and  in  the  school-room,  are  well  ventilated, 
and  that  they  are  not  too  long  confined  on  hard 
benches,  in  crowded  rooms.  Let  them  learn  to 
play  as  well  as  to  study.  Let  us  educate  their 
bodies  as  well  as  their  minds. 

What  a  grand  thing  it  is  for  the  doctors  that  so 
few  people  have  any  sense,  not  even  sense  enough 
to  take  pains  to  keep  well  when  they  are  so,  —  to 
keep  well  by  doing  justly,  living  temperately,  and 
pursuing  in  moderation  the  various  callings  of 
human  life  ! 

It  is  with  difficulty  that  old  habits  are  re- 
nounced, even  when  one  is  convinced  that  life  can 
be  prolonged  and  made  happier  thereby ;  but  it  is 
a  question  for  young  men  seriously  to  consider, 
whether,  on  starting  in  life,  they  will  addict  them- 
selves to  a  habit  which  at  once  wastes  the  time, 
sours  the  temper,  is  against  nature,  and  conse- 
quently involves  their  health  and  that  of  their 
offspring. 

Very  few  of  the  great  minds  of  this  country 
have  come  from  the  city,  or  the  cradle  of  the  rich. 
The  farm  and  the  workshop  have  supplied  by  far 
the  largest  number  of  our  eminent  men. 


12  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

We  may  say,  with  great  truth,  that  the  material 
glory,  permanence,  and  power  of  any  community 
consists  in  the  physical  vigor  of  the  individual 
men  and  women  who  compose  it ;  for  physical  per- 
fection gives  mental  energy  and  mental  health. 

A  PERSON  who  will  throw  himself  on  his  back  in 
the  water,  with  his  hands  held  clasped  in  each 
other  at  his  back,  and  with  his  head  thrown  back 
so  that  the  nose  and  mouth  may  protrude  from  the 
water,  may  float  for  hours,  and  cannot  sink  in  that 
position. 

If  a  child  is  regularly  put  to  sleep  at  the  same 
time,  for  only  three  or  four  days  in  succession,  the 
habit  will  so  rapidly  grow  upon  it  that,  with  the 
aid  of  quiet  and  a  little  darkening  of  the  room,  it 
will,  if  well,  fall  to  sleep  within  a  few  minutes  of 
the  time,  for  weeks  and  months  in  succession,  such 
is  Nature's  love  for  system  and  regularity. 

The  world  would  hail  it  as  a  glad  event,  if  phy- 
sicians could  be  so  educated  as  to  cure  all  disease ; 
but  it  would  more  largely  add  to  its  happiness  if 
all  could  be  so  well  instructed,  as  to  the  first 
symptoms  of  every  ailment,  as  to  be  able  at  once 
to  arrest  its  progress,  and  thus  no  physician  be 
needed  to  cure.  And  yet  any  one  must  know, 
that  if  men  could  be  so  taught  to  live  that  disease 
would  not  be  possible,  half  the  suflferings  of  hu- 
manity would  be  annihilated.    And  for  this  I  labor. 


DB.   hall's  MAXIM8.  13 

It  is  the  full,  steady,  equable  exercise  of  every 
mental  faculty,  which  is  the  only  infallible  guar- 
antee against  fatuity. 

If  you  are  well,  let  yourself  alone. 

I'HB  proper  way  to  give  a  medical  direction  is, 
to  use  the  most  common  words  in  their  ordinary 
sense,  and  in  a  manner  not  only  to  make  them 
easily  understood,  but  impossible  to  be  misunder 
stood,  and  to  take  it  for  granted  that  the  person 
prescribed  for  knows  nothing. 

Ignorance  is  always  reckless. 

Presentiments  love  weak  places;  hence  they 
flourish  among  weak-minded  people  —  not  necessa- 
rily weak-minded  by  nature,  but  made  so  by  a 
diseased  body. 

A  MAN  in  consumption  will  more  certainly  get 
well  in  Greenland  than  in  the  West  Indies.  Dr. 
Kane  was  an  invalid,  in  the  waters  of  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  in  summer.  Many  considered  him  doomed 
for  consumption.  In  six  months  he  was  in  Green- 
land, and  after  remaining  there  several  years, 
exposed  to  all  the  rigors  of  the  Arctic  seas,  he 
returned  in  better  health  than  he  had  known  for 
several  years. 

Let  it  be  the  aim  of  life  to  preserve  and  improve 
our  health,  and  to  be  good ;  then  we  shall  have  a 
happy  existence  bey  on  i  the  tomb. 


14  DB.  hall's  HAZIUS. 

Reader  of  mine,  in  the  shades  of  the  forties, 
you  have  found,  more  than  once  or  twice,  that  in 
times  of  real  difficulty,  if  you  could  not  help  your- 
self, you  had  to  go  unhelped.  This  is  as  it  should 
be.  It  makes  men  self-reliant.  He  who  is  always 
helped  remains  a  baby  always,  and  his  name  and 
memory  rot  with — his  body. 

The  fact  that  new  nostrums  remain  popular  only 
for  a  brief  period,  proves  that  their  healing  vir- 
tues, like  the  diseases  they  profess  to  cure,  are 
imaginary.  Each  remedy  has  its  brief  day  of 
glory,  and  is  succeeded  by  a  rival  candidate  for 
the  popular  applause.  Each  new  invention  has  a 
twofold  office.  It  comes  to  bury  the  dead,  and 
herald  a  new  race.  Every  fresh  adventurer  de- 
nounces all  rivals  as  deceivers  and  impostors. 
These  makers  and  venders  of  nostrums  abuse  each 
other  like  pickpockets.  They  wage  upon  every 
fellow-quack  an  internecine  war.  Every  member 
of  the  fraternity  is  an  Ishmaelite  to  every  other. 
On  all  sides  it  is  war  to  the  knife,  and  the  knife 
to  the  hilt.  The  dead  lie  prostrate  on  many  a 
hard-fought  field.  But  it  is  the  patients  who  die, 
not  the  qiuicka. 

Keep  every  spot  of  your  dwelling  scrupulously 
clean  and  dry,  from  cellar  to  garret,  and  from  the 
line  fence  in  the  rear  to  the  centre  of  the  street  in 
front 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  16 

The  forms  and  ceremonies  of  politeness  may  be 
dispensed  with,  in  a  measure,  in  the  relations  and 
intimacies  of  one's  own  fireside,  but  kind  atten- 
tions never. 

The  rule  that  a  man  may  eat  almost  anything 
with  impunity,  applies  to  one  in  good  health,  eat- 
ing in  moderation,  according  to  the  quality  of  the 
food ;  but  when  an  invalid  is  to  be  fed,  very  dif- 
ferent principles  are  to  govern. 

Disease  will  as  certainly  be  engendered  by  too 
little  food  as  by  too  much. 

Dieting  consists  in  adapting  the  f©od  in  quan- 
tity, as  well  as  quality,  to  the  wants  of  the  system. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  an  ill-conditioned 
cellar  is  the  unsuspected  cause  of  death  among 
many  a  happy  household. 

The  mud  of  our  streets  owes  half  its  parentage 
to  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  half  to  the  rains  of 
heaven.  So  the  vice  and  crime  which  disfigure 
society  appear  to  grow  out  of  the  alliance  of  ex- 
treme wealth  and  extreme  poverty.  It  is  chiefly 
in  the  very  lowest  or  in  the  very  highest  stages 
of  the  social  edifice  that  we  encounter  intemper- 
ance, licentiousness,  gambling,  and  the  various 
forms  of  profligacy  which  still  curse  our  civiliza- 
tion. 

One  of  the  great  errors  of  the  age  is,  we  medi- 
cate the  body  too  much,  the  mind  too  little. 


16  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Ta'KE  almost  any  business  man,  and  he  will  tell 
you,  in  more  than  three  cases  out  of  four,  that  he 
has  lost  more  by  bad  debts  than  he  is  now  worth. 
It  is  a  monstrous  fallacy  that  "  if  a  man  expects  to 
become  rich  he  must  go  in  debt."  The  sentiment 
originated  in  the  heart  of  a  rogue.  Debt  is  not 
the  policy  of  the  most  successful  men. 

The  hair  grows  fastest  in  summer,  and  in  the 
young.  A  finger  nail  is  renewed  in  a  hundred  and 
thirty-two  days  in  winter,  but  requires  only  a 
hundred  and  sixteen  of  warm  weather.  And  as 
light  hastens  vegetation,  so  it  is  known  that  the 
hair  grows  faster  in  the  daytime  than  in  the 
night;  and  the  beautiful  principle  holds  good  as 
to  our  moral  being.  We  all  expand  and  grow  into 
the  likeness  of  our  great  Father  in  proportion  as 
charity  keeps  up  the  warm  summer  time  in  our 
hearts,  while  the  sunlight  of  a  life  that  is  pure  and 
true  dispels  the  clouds  and  darkness  of  wrong- 
doing, and  creates  an  atmosphere  fit  for  the  breath 
of  angels. 

Dyspeptic  persons  had  a  thousand  times  better 
"  top  off"  with  a  few  teaspoons  of  strong  vinegar, 
than  with  a  plum  pudding  or  mince  pie,  or  a  glass 
of  wine,  brandy,  or  champagne. 

We  need  more  of  heart,  and  less  of  voice,  if  we 
would  carry  men  with  us,  and  take  them  captive 
against  their  will. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  17 

If  you  desire  to  live  long  in  ease  and  comfort, 
free  from  grunts  and  groans,  and  aches  and  pains ; 
if  you  would  have  a  countenance  of  genial  sun- 
shine, instead  of  vinegar;  if  you  would  be  over- 
flowing with  risibilities,  instead  of  being  racked 
with  rheumatics,  gd  rich  by  spending  your  youth 
in  temperate  industries  and  prudent  economies, 
having  in  view  the  wise  and  kindly  expenditure 
of  your  wealth  in  a  healthful  old  age. 

Song  is  the  outlet  of  mental  and  physical  activi- 
ty, and  increases  both  by  its  exercise.  No  child 
has  completed  a  religious  education  who  has  not 
been  taught  to  sing  the  songs  of  Zion.  No  part  of 
our  religious  worship  is  sweeter  than  this. 

The  more  clothes  a  man  wears,  the  more  bed- 
covering  he  uses,  the  closer  he  keeps  his  chamber, 
whether  warm  or  cold,  the  more  he  confines  him- 
self to  the  house,  the  more  numerous  and  warm  his 
night-garments,  the  more  readily  will  he  take  cold, 
under  all  circumstances ;  as  the  more  a  thriftless 
youth  is  helped,  the  less  able  does  he  become  to 
help  himself. 

More  persons  are  destroyed  by  eating  too  much 
than  by  drinking  too  much.  Gluttony  kills  more 
than  drunkenness  in  civilized  society. 

The  best  preparation  for  a  fine  head  of  hair  is 
good  health.     The  best  and  cheapest  means  are  the 
proper  use  of  a  hair-brush  and  pure  water. 
2 


18  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

There  is  not  a  girl  on  earth,  whether  the 
daughter  of  prince  or  pauper,  who,  if  made  a  per- 
fect mistress  of  all  household  duties,  and  thrown 
into  a  community  wholly  unknown,  would  not  rise 
from  one  station  to  another,  and  eventually  become 
the  mistress  of  her  own  mansion,  while  multitudes 
of  young  women,  placed  in  positions  of  ease,  ele- 
gance, and  affluence,  but  being  unfitted  to  fill  them, 
will  as  certainly  descend  from  one  round  of  the 
ladder  to  another,  until,  at  the  close  of  life,  they 
are  found  where  the  really  competent  started  from. 
Mothers  of  America,  if  you  wish  to  rid  your  own 
and  your  children's  household  of  the  destroying 
locusts  which  infest  your  houses  and  eat  up  your 
substance,  take  a  pride  in  educating  your  daugh- 
ters to  be  perfect  mistresses  of  every  home  duty; 
then,  even  if  you  leave  them  without  a  dollar,  be 
assured  they  will  never  lack  a  warm  garment,  a 
bounteous  meal,  or  a  cosy  roof,  nor  fail  of  the  re- 
spect of  any  who  know  them. 

If  you  act  with  a  view  to  praise  only,  you  de- 
serve none. 

No  disease  ever  comes  without  a  cause,  or  with- 
oiit  a  warning.  Hence  endeavor  to  think  back  for 
the  cause,  with  a  view  to  avoid  it  in  future,  and  on 
the  instant  of  any  unpleasant  bodily  sensation, 
cease  eating  absolutely  until  it  has  entirely  dis- 
appeared, at  least  for  twenty-four  hours.  If  still 
remaining,  consult  a  physician. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  19 

Fruits  and  berries  are  healthy  every  day  of  the 
year,  whether  a  man  is  sick  or  well.  Actual  ob- 
servation has  established  the  fact  that  fruit  is  me- 
dicinal even  in  diarrhoea,  inasmuch  as  it  has  a  cura- 
tive effect  when  properly  used. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  it  is  not  the  medicine 
advised  by  the  educated  physician  which  has  done 
the  world  so  much  injury,  but  it  is  the  physic 
which  the  people  swallow  on  their  own  responsi- 
bility. When  a  narrow-minded  person  gets  sick, 
he  "  calculates "  the  saving  it  will  be  to  him  to 
give  twenty-five  cents  for  a  box  of  pills  instead 
of  "  employing  a  physician,"  besides  avoiding  the 
discomfort  of  "a  course  of  medicine,"  as  it  is 
called.  This  answers  for  a  while  in  many  cases, 
but  it  is  ultimately  disastrous,  and  health  and  life 
are  the  fearful  forfeit. 

Intelligent  druggists  know  that  all  medicines 
sold  for  coughs,  colds,  consumption,  and  tickling  in 
the  throat,  contain  opium  in  some  form  or  other. 
They  repress  the  cough,  but  do  not  eradicate  it ; 
hence  the  first  purchase  paves  the  way  for  a  second 
or  a  third.  Meanwhile,  as  it  is  the  essential  nature 
of  opium  to  close  up,  to  constringe,  to  deaden  the 
sensibilities,  the  bowels  do  not  feel  the  presence  of 
their  contents  calling  for  a  discharge,  and  constipa- 
tion is  induced,  and  becomes  the  immediate  cause 
of  three  fourths  of  all  ordinary  ailments,  such  as 
headache,  neuralgia,  dyspepsia,  and  piles. 


20  DB.  hall's  haxihs. 

Pickles  should  never  be  kept  a  moment  in  any 
vessel  except  it  be  of  stone,  wood,  porcelain,  or 
glass.  In  most  other  vessels,  earthen  or  metallic, 
they  soon  become  poisonous. 

Do  not  commence  a  day's  travel  before  breakfast, 
even  if  that  has  to  be  eaten  at  daylight.  Dinner 
or  supper,  or  both,  can  be  more  healthfully  dis- 
pensed with  than  a  good  warm  breakfast. 

The  habitual  use  of  pills,  or  drops,  or  any  kind 
of  medicine  whatever,  for  the  regulation  of  the 
bowels,  is  a  sure  means  of  ultimately  undermining 
the  health,  in  almost  all  cases  laying  the  founda- 
tion for  some  of  the  most  distressing  of  chronic 
maladies ;  hence  all  the  pains  possible  should  be 
t;\ken  to  keep  them  regulated  by  natural  agencies, 
such  as  the  coarse  foods  and  exercises. 

The  three  great  essentials  to  human  health  are, 
Keep  the  feet  always  dry  and  wann,  have  one  r^- 
ular  action  of  the  bowels  every  day,  and  cool  off 
very  slowly  after  all  forms  of  exercise. 

Spasmodic  exercise,  that  which  is  short  and  vio- 
lent, is  contrary  to  nature.  It  is  seldom  unattend- 
ed with  injurious  consequences,  and,  as  to  invalids, 
causes  death  sometimes. 

The  irresponsible  brute  has  no  other  guide  to 
health  than  that  of  instinct.  It  is  in  a  measure 
absolutely  despotic,  and  cannot  be  readily  con- 
travened. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  21 

How  many  a  youth  at  school,  how  many  an  ap. 
prentice  in  the  shop,  how  many  a  child  in  the  fam- 
ily, has  gone  out  in  the  night  of  a  blighted  life, 
who,  with  humane  encouragements,  might  have 
lived  usefully  and  died  famous,  let  the  passionate 
teacher,  and  master,  and  parent  inquire,  and  do  a 
little  more  patting  on  the  shoulder. 

The  greatest  humanity  we  can  show  to  the  sick, 
is  to  secure  to  them  the  most  important  remedies 
ever  known,  to  wit,  quietness,  cleanliness,  and 
pure  air.  These  alone  would  cure  three  fourths 
of  all  our  diseases ;  but  we  will  not  use  them. 
Yet  they  are  everywhere  attainable,  and  cost 
nothing  but  a  little  trouble.  With  the  same  physi- 
cians and  the  same  medicines  the  mortality  of  the 
British  army  in  the  Crimea  was  diminished  one 
half  through  the  influence  of  Florence  Nightin- 
gale, in  the  procurement  of  greater  comfort  and 
cleanliness  among  the  sick. 

To  be  growing  old,  and  have  no  children  or 
grandchildren,  presents  a  bleaker  prospect  than 
to  be  perched  on  a  pyramid  of  the  desert,  or  upon 
a  glacier  of  the  frozen  sea.  Single  folks,  marry, 
—  and  marry  while  you  are  young. 

Under  intense  bodily  or  mental  application,  if 
you  find  your  memory  failing  you,  as  you  value 
bodily  health,  and  the  mind  itself,  break  away  at 
once  from  all  your  engagements,  and  spend  weeks 
together  in  out-door  recreations. 


22  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Persons  often  trouble  themselves  uselessly  about 
having  disease  of  the  heart  or  lungs,  because  they 
have  pain  thereabouts.  These  are  good  signs  gen- 
erally, as  showing  that  the  pains  are  external  to 
these  organs,  for  there  can  be  no  pain  where  there 
are  no  nerves.  The  fact  is,  the  most  certainly  fatal 
affections  of  these  organs  give  no  note  of  warning 
by  pain  until  within  the  last  brief  hours  of  life. 
The  very  substance  of  the  lungs  and  heart  is 
often  eaten  through,  eaten  away,  without  a  remote 
suspicion  on  the  part  of  the  patient  that  such  was 
the  case. 

Op  any  two  young  men  starting  on  the  race  of 
life,  one  poor  but  healthy,  the  other  rich  and  effem- 
inate, other  things  being  equal,  the  chances  foi 
usefulness,  honor,  and  a  well-remembored  name 
are  manifold  in  favor  of  the  former.  Who  that 
reads  this  article  will  lay  it  down,  and  resolve,  "  I 
will  do  more  to  leave  to  ray  children  a  vigorous 
constitution  "  ? 

Whatever  renders  the  blood  impure  tends  to 
originate  consumption.  Whatever  makes  the  air 
impure  makes  the  blood  impure.  It  is  the  air  we 
breathe  which  purifies  the  blood,  And  as,  if  the 
water  we  use  to  wash  our  clothing  is  dirty,  it  is 
impossible  to  wash  the  clothing  clean,  so  if  the  air 
we  breathe  is  impure,  it  is  impossible  for  it  tc 
abstract  the  impurities  from  the  blood. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  23 

We  place  great  stress  on  taking  some  food  or 
stimulating  drink  into  the  stomach,  on  waking  in 
the  morning,  before  going  out  into  the  morning 
air,  in  all  southern  latitudes,  especially  in  the 
warm  weather,  because  we  all  wake  up  in  a  lan- 
guid condition.  The  stomach  naturally,  and  by 
means  of  its  long  fast,  has  its  share  of  languor, 
and  has  almost  no  power  of  resisting  its  own 
instinct  to  drink  in  whatever  is  presented  to  it. 
Nor  have  the  other  parts  of  the  system  any  greater 
ability  of  self-defence,  —  of  resisting  deleterious 
impressions  from  an  atmosphere  loaded  with  poi- 
sonous miasm,  which  is  present  in  its  greatest 
malignity  and  in  its  most  concentrated  and  com- 
pact form  for  the  hour  or  two  about  sunrise,  in 
warm  weather,  in  all  southern  latitudes  —  malig- 
nant enough,  in  some  localities,  to  cause  death  in 
forty-eight  hours.  A  little  food,  or  a  cup  of  hot 
drink,  wakes  up  the  weak  stomach,  imparts  nutri- 
ment to  it,  and  with  that,  strength  to  defend  itself. 
Hence  all  persons  should  take  their  breakfast 
before  they  travel  in  warm  weather ;  and,  for  the 
same  reason,  all  out-door  laborers,  farmers,  &c., 
should  do  the  same. 

Let  our  readers  remember  that  only  ignorant 
and  presumptuous  men  talk  of  "  certain "  cures. 
The  truly  wise  physician  speaks  with  reserve,  and 
such  only  ought  to  be  trusted  with  human  health 
and  life. 


24  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

There  is  only  one  safe  plan  of  using  coffee,  and 
that  is,  never,  under  any  circumstances,  except  of 
an  extraordinary  character,  exceed  in  quantity, 
frequency,  or  strength ;  take  only  one  cup  at  the 
regular  meal,  and  of  a  given,  unvarying  strength. 
In  this  way,  it  may  be  used  every  day  for  a  life- 
time, not  only  without  injury,  but  with  greater 
advantage  than  an  equal  amount  of  cold  water ; 
and  for  the  simple  reason  that  nothing  cold  should 
bo  drank  at  a  regular  meal,  except  by  persons  in 
vigorous  health. 

While  medicine  has  no  power  to  cure  epilepsy, 
it  is  very  certain  that  grown  persons  can  keep  it 
in  abeyance  by  the  exercise  of  a  close  observation 
and  a  sound  judgment  —  can,  in  other  words,  ward 
off  an  attack  for  a  lifetime,  by  attention  to  two 
things:  First,  by  avoiding,  as  to  quantity  and 
quality,  the  food  which  causes  any  kind  of  discom- 
fort. Second,  by  regulating  the  system  so  as  to 
have  one  full,  free  action  of  the  bowels  every 
twenty -four  hours.  To  look  for  restoration  in  any 
other  direction  is  utterly  hopeless. 

Love  that  has  nothing  but  beauty  to  keep  it  in 
good  health  is  short-lived,  and  apt  to  have  ague 
fits. 

A  SIXPENNY  sandwich,  eaten  leisurely  in  the 
cars,  is  better  for  you  than  a  dollar  dinner,  bolted 
at  a  "  station." 


DB.   HALLOS   MAXIMS.  25 

I  SET  it  down  as  a  clearly  established  fact,  that 
a  glass  or  more  of  cold  water,  drank  habitually  at 
meals,  or  soon  after,  is  a  pernicious  practice,  even 
to  the  most  healthy. 

Why  you  should  walk  slowly  in  warm  weather, 
needs  no  explanation  to  thinking  people ;  but  as 
nine  tenths  of  mankind  never  think,  but  act  me- 
chanically as  to  the  commonest  facts  of  life,  we 
may  state,  that  walking  fast  in  summer  time  causes 
perspiration,  and  if,  while  in  that  condition,  a  per- 
son is  stopped  in  the  street,  or  in  any  way  exposed 
to  a  draught  of  air,  a  cold  is  inevitable. 

After  speaking,  singing,  or  preaching  in  a 
warm  room  in  winter,  do  not  leave  it  for  at  least 
ten  minutes,  and  even  then  close  the  mouth,  put 
on  the  gloves,  wrap  up  the  neck,  and  put  on  cloak 
or  overcoat  before  passing  out  of  the  door.  The 
neglect  of  these  has  laid  many  a  good  and  useful 
man  in  a  premature  grave. 

Eat  your  meals  with  an  unanxious,  unannoyed, 
and  cheerful  heart,  and  consider  him,  her,  or  it 
your  worst  enemy  that  interferes  in  this  direction ; 
for  passion,  anxiety,  alarm,  mortification,  instantly 
arrest  digestion. 

Respect  yourself  by  exhibiting  the  manners  of 
a  gentleman  or  a  lady,  if  you  wish  to  be  treated  as 
such,  and  then  you  will  receive  the  respect  of 
others. 


26  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

When  the  stomach  is  about  to  be  distressed  by 
an  improper  meal,  nature  sometimes  excites  the 
most  earnest  longings  for  an  acid  of  some  kind, 
and  such  persons  should  always  have  some  good 
vinegar  on  hand,  although  tart  fruits  or  grapes  are 
a  great  deal  better. 

The  experienced  practitioner  well  understands 
that  the  habitual  taking  of  any  efficient  medicine 
is  the  certain  road  to  a  premature,  and,  very  often, 
a  violent  or  agonizing  death. 

Exemption  from  trouble  is  a  negative  happiness, 
but  to  delight  in  removing  the  troubles  of  others, 
and  placing  smiles  and  gladness  in  their  stead,  is 
well  worthy  of  him  who  is  declared  to  be  but 
"  a  little  lower  than  the  angels."  To  grow  old  in 
a  confiding  submission  to  the  will  of  God,  and  in 
the  habitual  exhibition  of  a  brotherly  affection  to 
all  of  woman  born,  - —  this  is  the  life  divine,  the 
matchless  elixir,  the  panacea  for  human  sorrow, 
the  balm  of  immortality. 

Do  not  suppose  yourself  specially  and  design- 
edly neglected,  if  waiters  at  hotels  do  not  bring 
what  you  call  for  in  double-quick  time.  Nothing 
so  distinctly  marks  the  well-bred  man  as  a  quiet 
waiting  on  such  occasions.  Passion  proves  the 
puppy. 

The  failure  to  wear  woollen  flannel  next  the  skin 
is  the  most  frequent  cause  of  rheumatism. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  27 

Travel  is  a  great  leveller.  Take  the  position 
which  others  assign  you  from  your  conduct,  rather 
than  from  your  pretensions. 

It  requires  no  great  amount  of  perspicacity  to 
see  the  connection  between  falsehood  and  disease, 
between  morals  and  health,  between  the  condition 
of  the  mind  and  the  condition  of  the  body,  how 
one  involves  the  other.  Remorse  makes  most  of 
our  suicides ;  remorse  drives  multitudes  every  year 
to  a  drunkard's  premature  grave ;  and  how  many  it 
sends  to  that  place  more  dreary  than  the  grave 
itself,  the  insane  asylum  1 

Do  not  allow  yourself  to  converse  in  the  cars 
in  a  tone  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  a  person  two 
or  three  seats  from  you.  It  is  the  mark  of  a  boor  if 
in  a  man,  and  of  want  of  refinement  and  lady-like 
delicacy  if  in  a  woman.  A  gentleman  is  not  noisy ; 
ladies  are  serene. 

One  of  the  first  steps  from  childhood  to  ruin  is 
concealment  from  parents.  One  of  the  most  valu- 
able points  to  be  gained  by  parents  is  to  secure 
the  confidence  of  their  children.  No  daughter  was 
ever  lost  who  confided  wholly  in  her  mother's  heart. 
No  young  man  ever  went  to  ruin  who  made  his 
father  his  most  intimate  friend. 

Comply  cheerfully  and  gracefully  with  the  cus- 
toms of  the  conveyances  in  which  you  travel,  and 
of  the  places  where  you  stop. 


28  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Poverty,  disease,  aod  crime  herd  togoth(3r,  while 
thrift,  health,  and  position  are  found  associated  in 
the  same  individual.  The  education  of  the  street 
leads  to  the  former,  the  education  of  the  church 
leads  to  the  latter;  by  which  we  mean,  that  as  a 
matter  of  civil  polity,  the  most  certain  extermina- 
tor of  disease,  and  crime,  and  shiftless  poverty. is 
securing  to  children  the  benefits  of  a  religious  train- 
ing, of  Sunday  church-going,  of  ministerial  visita- 
tion, and  of  daily  parental  counsel  on  church  topics. 

The  dyspeptic  kills  himself;  the  drunkard  kills 
others. 

A  SOLDIER,  disabled  in  trying  to  shoot  his  brother 
man,  is  at  once  placed  on  the  pension  list ;  but  a 
clergyman,  whose  youth  and  manhood  have  been 
spent  in  the  efibrt  to  throw  around  this  world  a 
chain  of  love,  and  raise  it  up  to  heaven,  if  he  is 
disabled  in  his  God-like  work,  is  sometimes  turned 
out  to  die  like  an  old  dray-horse. 

The  average  duration  of  the  life  of  men  after 
"  retiring  from  active  business  "  is  less  than  three 
years. 

No  man  works  as  hard  in  summer  as  in  winter, 
consequently  the  wastes  of  the  system  are  less ; 
therefore  a  less  amount  of  food  is  wanted  in  sum- 
mer than  in  winter.  The  supply  must  be  regu 
kited  by  the  demand. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  29 

Persons  who  walk  a  great  deal  during  the  day, 
should,  on  coming  home  for  the  night,  remove  their 
shoes  and  stockings,  hold  the  feet  to  the  fire  until 
perfectly  dry,  put  on  a  dry  pair,  and  wear  slippers 
for  the  remainder  of  the  evening. 

Boots  and  gaiters  keep  the  feet  damp,  cold,  and 
unclean,  by  preventing  the  escape  of  that  insen- 
sible perspiration  which  is  always  escaping  from  a 
healthy  foot,  and  condensing  it;  hence  the  old- 
fashioned  low  shoe  is  best  for  health. 

When  a  simpleton  wants  to  get  well,  he  buys 
something  "  to  take ;  "  a  philosopher  gets  some- 
thing "to  do  ;  "  and  it  is  owing  to  the  circumstance, 
that  the  latter  has  been  in  a  minority  almost  un- 
distinguishable  in  all  nations  and  ages,  and  that 
doctors  are  princes  instead  of  paupers. 

If  a  man  faints  away,  instead  of  yelling  out  like 
a  savage,  or  running  to  him  to  lift  him  up,  lay  him 
at  full  length  on  his  back  on  the  floor,  loosen  the 
clothing,  push  the  crowd  away  so  as  to  allow  the 
air  to  reach  him,  and  let  him  alone.  Dashing  wa- 
ter over  a  person  in  a  simple  fainting  fit  is  a  bar- 
barity, and  soils  the  clothing  unnecessarily.  The 
philosophy  of  a  fainting  fit  is,  the  heart  fails  to  send 
the  proper  supply  of  blood  to  the  brain :  if  the  per- 
son is  erect,  that  blood  has  to  be  thrown  up  hill, 
but  if  lying  down,  it  has  to  be  projected  horizon- 
tally :  which  requires  less  power,  is  apparent. 


30  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

After  any  kind  of  exercise,  do  not  stand  a  mo- 
ment  at  a  street  corner  for  anybody  or  anything ; 
nor  at  an  open  door  or  window.  When  you  have 
been  exercising  in  any  way  whatever,  winter  or 
summer,  go  home  at  oace,  or  to  some  sheltered 
place ;  and  however  warm  the  room  may  seem  to 
be,  do  not  at  once  pull  off  your  hat  and  cloak,  but 
wait  a  while,  some  five  minutes  or  more,  and  lay 
aside  one  at  a  time ;  thus  acting,  a  cold  is  impos- 
sible. 

What  one  man  eats  or  drinks  in  quality  or  quan- 
tity is  no  guide  for  any  other  man,  any  more  than 
the  amount  of  labor  one  can  perform  is  the  criteri- 
on for  another.  Each  man  must  for  himself  bring 
his  own  observation  and  judgment  to  bear  on  the 
question,  How  much  must  I  eat  ?  The  general  rule 
is,  do  not  eat  so  much  as  to  cause  any  unpleasant 
sensation  afterwards. 

If  you  at  any  time  take  a  meal,  and  afterwards, 
within  an  hour  or  two,  feel  uncomfortable,  then 
what  you  have  eaten  does  riot  agree  with  you ;  you 
have  eaten,  either  in  quantity  or  quality,  what  your 
stomach  cannot  digest.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  it  ia 
the  quantity,  and  not  the  quality,  which  does  the 
mischief. 

That  man  or  woman  who  is  not  happy  at  home, 
has  made  a  sad  failure  as  to  the  largest  portion  of 
a  lifetime. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  31 

Reader,  never  make  a  fool  of  yourself  by  writ- 
ing a  letter  while  in  a  passion,  to  anybody,  how- 
ever high  or  however  low.  And  even  if  under 
great  provocation,  take  a  noble  pride  in  exhibiting 
the  dignified  courtesy  of  a  gentleman,  and  the  for- 
bearance of  a  Christian ;  and  remember,  the  more 
you  gloat  over  the  severity  of  what  you  have  writ- 
ten, the  more  of  an  ass  you  will  be  for  sending  or 
publishing  it. 

Every  intelligent  and  humane  parent  will  ar- 
range that  the  family  room  and  the  chambers  shall 
be  the  most  commodious,  lightest,  and  brightest 
apartments  in  his  dwelling. 

To  have  one's  wits  about  him,  under  all  contin- 
gencies, is  one  of  the  most  valuable  practical  qual- 
ities which  a  man  can  possess.  It  belongs  to  a 
strong  mind,  whether  in  man  or  woman ;  and 
would  save  thousands  of  lives  and  incalculable  suf- 
fering every  year.  One  of  the  means  by  which 
we  can  arrive  at  a  good  share  of  this  valuable 
characteristic  is,  to  fix  in  the  mind  what  should 
be  done  under  certain  circumstances.  To  do  this, 
presupposes  intelligence. 

A  man  who  lends  his  money  at  three  per  cent,  a 
year,  to  be  returned  to  him  in  an  hour's  notice, 
makes  more  than  he  who  lends  by  the  year  at 
twenty  per  cent. ;  for,  in  the  latter  case,  it  usually 
stays  lent. 


32  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Health  and  long  life  are  almost  universally  as- 
sociated with  early  rising ;  and  wo  are  pointed  to 
countless  old  people  as  evidence  of  its  good  effects 
on  the  general  system.  Can  any  of  our  readers, 
on  the  spur  of  the  moment,  give  a  good  and  con- 
clusive reason  why  health  should  be  attributed 
to  this  habit  ?  We  know  that  old  people  get  up 
early;  but  it  is  simply  because  they  can't  sleep. 
Moderate  old  age  does  not  require  much  sleep ; 
hence,  in  the  aged,  early  rising  is  a  necessity  or 
a  convenience,  and  is  not  a  cause  of  health  in 
itself. 

A  DOG  confined  in  a  cellar  will  become  consump 
tive  in  six  weeks,  accordiog  to  the  observation  of 
niedical  men.  No  room  without  the  glorious  sun- 
shine is  fit  for  any  living  creature,  man  or  beast. 
The  glorious  sunshine  1  The  free  and  bounteous 
gift  of  a  beneficent  Creator  —  the  source  of  all 
buoyant,  healthful  life  1  Yet  in  our  truculence  to 
fashion,  in  our  greed  of  gold,  in  our  infatuated  in- 
difference to  the  hea'lth  of  our  wives,  our  children, 
and  of  ourselves,  we  remorselessly  throw  it  all 
away,  one  of  the  loveliest  gifts  of  a  loving  God,  the 
beauteous  sunshine  I 

A  VERY  small  stock  of  ideas  on  call,  which  can 
be  made  use  of  at  a  moment's  notice,  is  worth  whole 
cart-loads  of  magnificent  lumber  which  require  a 
month  to  separate  and  classify. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  33 

Do  not  enter  a  sick  chamber  on  an  empty  stomach, 
nor  remain  as  a  watcher  or  nurse  until  you  feel 
almost  exhausted,  nor  sit  between  the  patient  and 
the  fire,  nor  in  the  direction  of  a  current  of  air  from 
the  patient  towards  yourself,  nor  eat  or  drink  any- 
thing after  being  in  a  sick  room  until  you  have 
rinsed  your  mouth  thoroughly. 

To  live  long,  and  well,  and  usefully,  be  temper- 
ate in  all  things,  remembering  that  the  only  certain 
and  effectual  way  of  being  temperate  in  referenc« 
to  liquor  is,  never  taste  a  drop. 

To  get  well  of  any  chronic  disease,  of  a  serious 
character,  and  to  remain  cured,  a  man  must  be  led 
to  see  the  nature  of  his  own  case,  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  his  own  constitution,  and  must  have 
that  force  of  character  which  compels  compliance 
with  those  requisitions.  As  long  as  the  world 
stands,  the  ignoramus  and  the  animal  will  die  be- 
fore his  time.  Intelligent  self-denial  is  the  price 
of  health  and  long  life  the  world  over :  it  never 
will  be  otherwise. 

How  many  a  poor  fellow  would  be  saved  from 
suicide,  from  the  penitentiary,  and  the  gallows, 
every  year,  had  he  been  blessed  with  a  good  wife  ! 

When  you  are  perspiring  freely,  keep  in  motion 
until  you  get  to  a  good  fire,  or  to  some  place  where 
you  are  perfectly  sheltered  from  any  draught  of  air 
whatever. 

3 


34  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Wealthy  parents  who  have  sickly  children  have 
committed  a  double  wrong  against  them  —  the 
wrong  of  neglect  or  ignorance,  and  the  still  greater 
one  of  having  at  their  command  the  means  of  health, 
and  yet  failing  to  make  their  application. 

Summer  heats  relax,  invite  to  physical  inactivity 
and  ease ;  locomotion  is  an  effort ;  the  mind  itself 
participates  in  the  inertia  of  the  body,  and  both 
stagnate  together.  On  the  contrary,  the  sparkling 
frosts  of  winter  rouse  up  our  activities,  the  pulses 
bound  with  the  fire  of  life,  and  we  are  ready,  at  a 
moment's  notice,  to  do  or  dare  anything;  we  can 
scarce  keep  the  body  still ;  motion  is  a  luxury,  while 
in  summer  time  it  was  a  drag.  The  great  prac- 
tical lesson  is,  in  proportion  as  you  would  avoid 
crime  and  madness,  aim  to  be  fully  employed, 
whether  in  summer  or  winter,  in  doing  something 
which  combines,  in  its  highest  extent,  the  useful 
and  the  good. 

The  man  who  insures  a  cure  of  anything,  under 
all  circumstances,  is  an  ignoramus  or  a  knave. 

There  are  tens  of  thousands  suffering  this  mo- 
ment in  tlie  public  hospitals,  asylums,  and  other 
places  of  charity,  from  destitution  and  diseases 
from  want  of  occupation,  not  of  necessity,  but 
simply  because  they  n^ero  either  too  idle  to  work, 
too  incompetent  to  do  it  well,  or  too  lazy  to  apply 
themselves. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  35 

Order  is  Heaven's  first  law.  Regularity  is  Na- 
ture's universal  rule.  Morning,  noon,  and  night 
the  healthy  man  becomes  hungry  at  the  usual  eat- 
ing hour  for  half  a  centur}'^.  No  liuman  machine  can 
work  the  twentieth  part  so  long  without  adjust- 
ment or  repair.  At  the  accustomed  hour  the  infant 
oecomes  sleepy;  within  ten  minutes  of  the  time  does 
the  regular  man  wake  of  a  morning  for  weeks  and 
months  in  succession.  So  is  it  with  the  desire  to 
stool :  with  almost  all  it  comes  on  soon  after  break- 
fast. This  appears  to  be  the  most  proper  time,  and 
if  not  interfered  with,  this  inclination  will  come 
on  for  a  lifetime,  with  but  a  few  minutes,  variation, 
and  a  healthful  old  age  is  the  result ;  but  if  inter- 
fered with,  the  foundation  begins  to  be  laid  of 
nine  tenths  of  all  our  maladies,  and  a  premature 
and  painful  death. 

The  less  a  man  uses  (spends)  the  money  he  ac- 
cumulates, the  richer  he  becomes ;  the  less  a 
student  uses  his  daily  accumulation  of  knowledge, 
the  bigger  bore  he  is.  Therefore,  save  your 
money  —  use  your  sense. 

The  best  and  truest  benevolence  is  to  put  a  man 
in  the  way  of  helping  himself;  this  gives  him  self- 
reliance,  relieves  him  of  the  degradation  of  depen- 
dence, and  makes  him  at  once  feel  that  he  is  a  man 
—  the  highest  aid  and  the  best  guarantee  that  he 
will  act  like  a  man. 


H6  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Instead  of  aiming  to  pass  the  latter  part  of  life 
in  dangerous,  inglorious  ease,  let  the  ambition  bo 
to  spend  it  in  active  benevolences,  happifying  alike 
the  heart  of  both  giver  and  receiver,  thus  leaving 
a  name  behind,  not  written  in  the  sands  of  selfish 
indulgence,  but  engraven  in  imperishable  charac- 
ters on  the  grateful  memories  of  man,  and  in  the 
"  Book  of  Life." 

Millions  daily  give  and  take  medical  advice 
from  one  single  experience  or  observation,  and 
multitudes  daily  die  in  consequence. 

Persons  in  health  do  not  need  any  pepper  in 
their  food.  But  to  those  of  weak  and  languid 
stomachs,  it  is  manifold  more  beneficial  to  use 
Cayenne  pepper  at  meals  than  any  form  of  wine, 
brandy,  or  beer  that  can  be  named,  because  it 
stimulates  without  the  reaction  of  sleepiness  or 
debility. 

In  high  bodily  health,  brain-work,  like  body- 
work, gives  an  appetite ;  and  if  that  appetite  is 
only  indulged  regularly  and  moderately,  any  stu- 
dent may  live  to  a  good  old  age  with  an  hour  or 
two  of  judicious  exercise  out  of  doors  every  day, 
and,  in  the  end,  save  years  of  eflicient  labor  by  it. 
So  far  from  complete  inaction  being  perfect  enjoy- 
ment, there  are  few  greater  sufferings  than  that 
which  the  total  absence  of  occupation  generally 
induces. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  37 

One  of  the  best  means  of  ventilating  a  sick 
chamber,  where  it  may  be  considered  not  advisa- 
ble to  raise  a  window,  is  to  open  an  inner  door, 
and  kindle  a  chip  fire  on  the  hearth  for  a  few  min- 
utes in  summer,  or  simply  open  the  door  if  it  is  fire- 
time  of  year. 

Our  general  opinion  is,  that  all  children  under 
ton  years  of  age,  all  invalids,  people  of  thin  flesh, 
and  those  who  are  easily  chilled,  should  always 
wash  their  limbs  and  bodies  in  warm  water,  with 
soap  and  brush,  in  a  room  almost  as  warm  as  the 
water  itself. 

An  open  window  most  nights  in  the  year  can 
never  hurt  any  one.  This  is  not  to  say  that  light 
is  not  necessary  for  recovery.  In  great  cities 
night  air  is  often  the  best  and  purest  air  to  be  had 
in  the  twenty-four  hours.  I  could  better  under- 
stand shutting  the  windows  in  towns  during  the 
day,  than  during  the  night,  for  the  sake  of  the 
sick.  The  absence  of  smoke,  the  quiet,  all  tend  to 
make  night  the  best  time  for  airing  the  patient. 

Hair  specifics.  Let  them  alone.  We  think 
the  whole  of  them  are  a  cheat.  There  is  not  one 
single  exception.  A  "spect/?c,"  in  medicine,  is  a 
term  which  implies  certainty  of  efiect.  Hair  falls 
out  from  the  want  of  nutriment.  It  dies  just  as  a 
blade  of  grass  dies  in  a  soil  where  there  is  no  moib. 
ture.  This  want  of  nutriment  is  functional  or  oT' 
gamic. 


38  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Compel  your  children  to  take  care  of  their  health ' 

Reader,  keep  ever  before  you  the  fear  of 
"  frenzy,"  for  in  an  unguarded  hour,  within  any 
dozen  minutes,  it  may  lead  you  to  utter  a  word 
against  a  heart  that  loves  you,  whose  wound  no 
tears  can  ever  wash  away ;  may  lead  you  to  commit 
an  act  which  will  send  you  to  the  gallows  or  a 
mad-house  I 

Persons  who  work  hard,  under  twenty  years  of 
age,  should  be  allowed  ten  hours'  rest  in  bed.  The 
health  of  girls  is  sometimes  ruined  by  overpush- 
ing  mothers. 

Reader,  let  you  and  I  strive  to  live  so  that  it 
may  be  justly  inscribed  on  the  slab  which  covers 
our  graves :     "  He  did  not  live  in  vain." 

An  article  may  not  agree  with  the  stomach  to- 
day, but  may  agree  with  it  very  well  in  a  few 
days,  weeks,  or  months  afterwards,  because  its  dis- 
tinctive elements  may  then  be  needed  in  the 
system. 

There  is  no  advantage,  as  to  health,  in  sleeping 
in  a  very  cold  room,  cold  enough  to  have  ico 
formed  in  it  during  the  night. 

"  Bread  and  butter  "  and  milk  are  the  only  two 
articles  of  food  which  have  all  the  elements  of  nu- 
trition ;  hence  from  childhood  to  extreme  old  age 
we  are  never  tired  of  them. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  39 

To  «I1  young  men,  who  aim  to  do  good  on  a  large 
Bcale,  we  say,  most  earnestly.  Nurse  your  consti- 
tution with  pious  care ;  invigorate  it ;  study  to  be 
well,  as  the  necessary  means  of  doing  well,  in  the 
highest  sense  of  the  term. 

Always  air  your  room  from  the  outside  air 
if  possible.  Windows  are  made  to  open,  doors 
are  made  to  shut  —  the  truth  of  which  seems  ex- 
tremely difficult  of  apprehension.  Every  room 
must  be  aired  from  without — every  passage  from 
within. 

No  man  ought  to  marry  who  has  to  work  like  a 
horse  from  morning  until  night  to  supply  family 
necessaries,  whether  it  bo  by  brain  or  body ;  for  if 
the  body  is  thus  made  a  drudge  of,  it  perpetuates 
impaired  power  to  the  race ;  while  if  the  brain  is 
overwrought,  its  effects  will  be  seen  in  children  of 
feeble  intellect,  if,  indeed,  they  be  not  demented. 
To  calculate,  therefore,  on  a  reasonable  share  of 
domestic  enjoyment,  the  parties  most  interested 
should  aim  to  find  in  each  other  as  great  an 
amount  as  may  be  of  high  moral  principle,  of  bodily 
health,  and  either  the  actual  possession  of  a  suita- 
ble maintenance,  or  an  individual  ability  to  secure 
it  without  peradventure. 

Let  it  be  always  borne  in  mind  that  cold  air  is 
not  necessarily  pure,  nor  is  warm  air  necessarily 
impure. 


40  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Prom  "eight  to  sixteen"  1  In  these  few  years  are 
the  destinies  of  children  fixed,  in  forty-nine  cases 
out  of  fifty  —  fixed  by  the  parent  1  Let  every 
father  and  every  mother  solemnly  vow,  "By  God's 
help,  I'll  fix  my  darling's  destiny  for  good,  by  mak- 
ing home  more  attractive  than  the  street." 

Sun-stroke  is  prevented  by  wearing  a  silk  hand- 
kerchief in  the  crown  of  the  hat,  or  green  leaves, 
or  a  wet  cloth  of  any  kind,"  but  during  an  attack, 
warm  water  should  be  instantly  poured  on  the 
head,  or  rags  dipped  in  the  water  and  renewed 
every  minute.  The  reason  is  twofold:  the  scalp 
is  dry  and  hot,  and  the  warm  water  not  only  re- 
moves the  dryness,  but  carries  oif  the  extra  heat 
with  great  rapidity  by  evaporation. 

The  only  way  in  which  a  man  can  "  retire  on  a 
fortune  "  with  safety,  with  comfort,  with  happiness 
and  honor,  is  to  lay  his  plans  so  that  his  time  shall 
be  fully  and  compulsorily  occupied  in  advancing 
the  well-being  of  others,  in  every  way  compatible 
with  the  safety  of  his  own  fortune  and  health. 

In  all  ordinary  ailments  and  accidents,  secure 
quiet  of  body,  composure  of  mind,  pure  air,  pure 
water,  and  simple  food  at  regular  intervals ;  being  a 
little  hungry  all  the  time. 

Children  should  be  compelled  to  be  out  of  doors 
for  the  greater  part  of  daylight,  from  after  break 
fast  until  half  an  hour  before  sundown. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  41 

We  do  not  advise  a  warm  bath  oftener  than  once 
a  week.  But  we  must  consult  nature  and  facts. 
Each  man  should  bathe  in  a  manner  which,  from 
observation  and  personal  experiment,  does  him 
most  good.  In  matters  of  health  and  disease  each 
must  bo  his  own  rule.  Immense  mischief  is  daily 
done  by  ignoring  this  principle,  which  is  at  once 
the  dict;ito  of  a  sound  philosophy  and  of  common 
sense. 

FIowEVER  healthy  a  man  may  be,  anxiety  for  to* 
morrow's  bread  will  soon  undermine  the  strongest 
constitution. 

Human  life,  in  all  its  relations,  is  a  series  of 
generous  reciprocities,  and  they  who  give  them 
wisely,  will  receive  them  in  return.  We  who  are 
of  higher  cultivation  must  take  the  lead  in  the  ex- 
hibition of  all  good  and  noble  qualities. 

There  is  more  love  in  a  full  flour  barrel,  than  in 
all  the  roses,  and  posies,  and  woodbines  that  ever 
grew. 

To  die  childless,  after  having  been  once  blessed 
with  dear  children,  must  be  one  of  the  most  terri- 
ble of  all  calamities  of  the  heart;  yet  in  countless 
multitudes  of  cases  the  sufferers  are  the  authors 
of  their  own  crushing  sorrows,  by  reason  of  their 
unpardonable  ignorance  or  more  criminal  neglect. 

Never  go  to  bed  with  cold  or  damp  feet. 


42  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Some  persons'  feet  are  more  comfortable,  even 
in  winter,  in  cotton,  others  in  woollen,  stockings 
Each  must  be  guided  by  his  own  feelings. 

We  protest  against  anybody  making  publica- 
tions on  human  health  except  educated  physicians ; 
and  we  counsel  those  of  our  readers  who  wish  to 
be  on  the  safe  side,  to  give  a  wide  berth  to  all 
rules,  regulations,  suggestions,  and  dicta  about 
the  preservation  of  health  and  the  cure  of  dis- 
eases, unless  they  bear  the  name  of  some  medical 
man  of  eminence,  or  of  some  medical  publication 
of  acknowledged  authority. 

The  more  sick  people  can  sleep,  the  sooner  they 
will  get  well.  Sleeping  in  the  daytime,  if  before 
noon,  enables  them  to  sleep  better  the  following 
night. 

The  judgment  of  the  observant  is  rapidly  settling 
down  in  the  conviction  that  furnace-heated  houses 
are  rapidly  undermining  the  constitutions  of  whole 
families,  and  thus  render  them  the  easy  prey  to 
every  acute  disease. 

Fun  is  worth  more  than  physic,  and  whoever  in- 
vents or  dicovers  a  new  source  of  supply,  deserves 
the  name  of  a  public  benefactor  ;  and  whoever  can 
write  an  article  the  most  laughter-promoting,  and 
at  the  same  time  harmless,  is  worthy  of  our  grati- 
tude and  respect. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  43 

One  of  the  most  important  promotives  of  health 
is  the  getting  along  smoothly  in  tiie  world,  and  one 
of  the  ways  of  doing  this  is  to  be  habitually  cour- 
teous and  accommodating,  and  to  "  give  a  little." 
Don't  stand  up  for  all  your  rights.  Do  not  exact 
the  last  cent  due  you  in  your  dealings,  under  the 
deceptive  plea  that  you  owe  it  to  yourself  to  be 
just,  and  to  the  one  dealing  with  you,  to  let  him 
see  that  you  will  not  countenance  imposition.  In 
our  experience  through  life,  we  have  found  that 
generous  men  have  about  as  good  an  idea  of  what 
is  justice  as  any  other  class  of  people ;  for  they 
are  just  enough  to  make  allowances  for  the  mis- 
takes, forgetfulness,  prejudices,  misapprehensions, 
and  ignorance  of  their  fellow-men. 

Every  parent  should  peremptorily  forbid  all  sew- 
ing by  candle  or  gas  light,  especially  of  dark  mate- 
rials. 

It  is  greatly  to  be  regretted  that  scientific  men 
should,  for  pay,  in  money  or  soft  soder,  lend  their 
influence  to  simpletons  and  knaves,  to  the  risk  of 
the  health  and  life  itself  of  the  community  at  large. 

No  mechanic  should  marry  until  he  is  master  of 
his  trade  ;  nor  a  professional  man,  until  his  income 
is  adequate  to  the  style  of  life  which  he  determines 
upon ;  nor  the  merchant,  until  his  clear  annual  gains 
are  equal  to  his  domestic  expenditures,  unless,  in- 
deed, there  are,  in  either  case,  independent  and 
unconditional  sources  of  income. 


44  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Every  element  of  the  human  body  is  found  in 
the  food  which  Nature  prepares  for  man.  Our  food 
is  the  vehicle  through  which  that  element  is  sup* 
plied,  and  that  is  the  natural  mode  of  supply. 
Tlius  it  is,  that  in  many  remembered  cases,  sick 
persons  became  possessed  of  an  appetite  for  a  par- 
ticular kind  of  food,  and  on  eating  it  got  well,  be- 
cause, as  it  were,  Nature  knew  that  the  body  need- 
ed the  element  which  that  kind  of  food  most  largely 
abounded  in. 

The  greatest  humanity  a  mother  can  exhibit  in 
respect  to  her  sick  child  is  to  divert  it,  divert  it, 
DIVERT  IT,  in  all  the  pleasing  ways  possible,  as 
we  ourselves,  who  are  larger  children,  feel  some- 
times really  sick,  when  a  cheerful  faced  and  much 
loved  friend  has  come  in,  and  before  we  knew  it, 
we  had  forgotten  that  anything  was  the  matter 
with  us. 

Washing  the  feet  every  night  in  warm  weather, 
and  soaking  them  in  warm  water  for  ten  minutes 
three  times  a  week  in  winter,  admirably  promotes 
that  warmth,  pliability,  and  softness  of  the  skin  of 
the  feet,  so  indispensable  to  health  and  comfort, 
saying  nothing  of  the  cleanliness  of  the  practice, 
and  its  tendency  both  to  prevent  and  to  cure  corns. 
But  after  all  washings  of  the  feet,  it  is  of  the  first 
importance,  after  wiping  them  well,  to  hold  tkem  to 
the  fire,  and  rub  them  with  the  hands  until  per 
fectly  dry  and  warm  in  every  part. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  45 

Let  parents  who  do  not  want  their  children  to 
die  of  water  on  the  brain,  allow  them  to  have  the 
fullest  amount  of  undisturbed  sleep  they  possibly 
can  take,  especially  while  at  school. 

In  a  hygienic  point  of  view,  the  advantages  of 
marrying  a  woman  who  is  mature  in  body,  in  age, 
in  mind,  in  judgment,  in  culture,  cannot  be  easily 
computed.  They  are  beyond  measure.  On  the 
other  hand,  for  a  mere  girl  to  become  a  mother,  is 
to  give  up  almost  every  chance  of  health,  and  peril 
life  itself;  is  to  throw  away  a  decade  of  joyous 
youth,  of  delicious  anticipations  "  long  drawn  out " 
in  gladness,  growing  the  sweeter  in  their  expec- 
tancy, making  of  girlhood  a  lengthened  Sabbath  of 
sunshine,  which,  ending  in  a  wise  marriage,  is 
looked  back  upon  to  the  close  of  life  with  the  most 
delightful  associations,  yet  not  regretfully,  a  deeper 
sweetness  being  in  the  present  —  all  this  is  thrown 
remorselessly  away  by  her  who  marries  too  early. 

It  is  a  bad  plan  to  be  always  taking  medicine : 
such  persons  are  never  well. 

Go  to  the  cold,  rarefied  mountain  air  to  cure  you 
of  consumption,  and  not  to  the  hot  savannas  of 
the  south,  where  every  breath  you  take  is  loaded 
with  steaming  moisture  and  disease,  engendering 
miasm,  oppressing  the  system,  taking  away  the 
strength,  and  corrupting  the  blood  at  every  ii> 
spiration. 


46  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Laughter  ennobles,  lor  it  speaks  forgiveness. 
Music  does  the  same,  by  the  purifying  influences 
which  it  exerts  on  the  better  feelings  and  senti- 
ments of  our  being.  Laughter  banishes  gloom ; 
music,  madness.  It  was  the  harp  in  the  hands  of 
the  son  of  Jesse  which  exorcised  the  evil  spirit 
from  royalty ;  and  the  heart  that  can  laugh  ou^ 
right  does  not  harbor  treasons,  stratagems,  and 
spoils. 

So  far  from  poverty  and  filth  being  elements  of 
health  and  long  life,  they  are  the  very  reverse. 
They  directly  induce  premature  death  as  to  grown- 
up persons,  and  sow  the  seeds  of  fatal  diseases  in 
innocent  childhood. 

It  is  utterly  impossible  to  get  well,  or  keep  well, 
unless  the  feet  are  kept  dry  and  warm  all  the  time. 
If  they  are  for  the  most  part  cold,  there  is  cough, 
or  sore  throat,  or  hoarseness,  or  sick  headache,  or 
some  other  annoyance. 

It  is  well  known  that  youths  from  fifteen  to 
twenty,  and  fools  of  all  ages,  are  the  smartest  peo- 
ple in  the  world.  They  know  everything.  The}* 
never  perform  an  act  which  is  not  perfectly  just  — 
in  their  own  estimation ;  and  no  Nero  is  so  impa- 
tient and  so  savagely  severe  in  punishment  if  any* 
thing  is  done  contrary  to  their  views  of  what  ought 
to  be  done. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  47 

A  TEASPOONFUL  of  blood  from  the  nose  has  pre- 
vented many  a  fatal  attack  of  apoplexy ;  hence  a 
nose  bleeding  is  sometimes  the  safety  valve  of  life. 

All  forms  of  diarrhoea  and  dysentery,  where 
there  is  great  thirst,  the  gratification  of  which 
by  drinking  any  liquid  increases  the  malady,  are 
promptly  controlled,  and  in  many  cases  perfectly 
cured,  by  freely  swallowing  as  large  lumps  of  ice 
as  possible. 

]\IuLTiTUDES  bring  on  themselves  the  horrors  of 
a  life-long  dyspepsia  by  drinking  large  quantities 
of  cold  water  at  their  meals. 

Let  every  child,  having  any  pretence  to  heart, 
or  manliness,  or  piet}',  and  who  is  so  fortunate  as 
to  have  a  father  or  mother  living,  consider  it  a 
sacred  duty  to  consult,  at  any  reasonable  personal 
sacrifice,  the  known  wishes  of  such  a  parent,  until 
that  parent  is  no  more  ;  and  our  word  for  it,  tlie 
recollection  of  the  same  through  the  after  pilgrim- 
age of  life  will  sweeten  every  sorrow,  will  brighten 
every  gladness,  will  sparkle  every  tear-drop  with 
a  joy  inefiable. 

Opium  does  not  cure  anything.  It  never  did. 
All  that  can  be  scientifically  claimed  for  it  is,  that 
it  gives  time  to  nature  or  the  physician. 

There  is  more  need  of  ventilating  a  chamber  in 
winter  than  in  summer. 


48  DR.  hall's  uaxius. 

Extravagance,  waste,  and  carelessness  not  only 
ruin  those  who  practise  them,  but  have  a  demoral- 
izing effect  on  those  who  may  be  benefited  thereby 
in  a  material  point  of  view.  Persons  seldom  thrive 
whose  occupations  or  modes  of  obtaining  a  living 
depend  on  chance,  —  such  as  gamblers,  stock-bro- 
kers, robbers,  wreckers,  hunters,  miners,  office- 
holders, and  speculators  in  general.  Hence  those 
parents  are  wisest  who  bring  up  their  children  to 
the  expectation  of  making  a  living,  or  of  becoming 
rich  by  some  one  occupation,  which  brings  with  it 
gains  which  are  moderate,  uniform,  and  steady. 
As  a  general  rule  to  young  men,  the  first  political 
or  salaried  office,  the  first  bet  won,  the  first  suc- 
cessful speculation,  is  at  the  same  time  the  first 
step  towards  material  unthrift,  towards  moral 
degradation,   and   towards   a   premature   grave. 

Let  every  nurse  endeavor  to  do  better  with 
each  succeeding  invalid.  Let  every  physician  en- 
deavor to  give  more  thought  and  attention  to  each 
new  patient,  and  let  us  all,  in  all  things,  strive  pa- 
tiently, resolutely,  persistently,  to  make  each  day 
"  the  best "  of  any  that  preceded  it,  and  thus  do 
more  than  could  possibly  be  done  in  any  other 
way  to  prevent  our  lives  being  a  failure  —  a  ca- 
lamity than  which  no  greater  could  befall  any 
man. 

What  a  fool  a  man  is  ! 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  49 

Some  people  are  as  green  as  the  grass  they  tread 
Qpon ;  or,  to  change  the  simile,  their  noggins  are 
as  soft  as  mush.  It  is  a  wonder  they  have  sense 
enough  to  breathe. 

Infants  and  animals  never  have  dyspepsia  if 
let  alone,  for  Nature  is  the  wise  apportioner.  Thus 
is  it  with  sleep.  Nature,  herself  sleepless,  wakes 
us  up  the  moment  we  have  had  enough,  if  we  are 
not  tampered  with. 

We  should  guard  against  cherishing  depressing 
feelings,  and  with  as  much  care  should  habituate 
ourselves  to  self-control ;  to  the  habit  of  looking  at 
everything  of  a  stirring  or  harrowing  character 
with  a  calm  courage  ;  we  should  strive  at  all  times 
for  that  valuable  characteristic,  "  presence  of  mind," 
under  all  circumstances,  for  we  are  every  day  in 
great  need  of  it.  It  is,  in  many  cases,  a  literal 
"  life-preserver." 

When  a  man  leaves  home  on  business,  it  is  al- 
ways important  that  he  should  have  his  wits  about 
him ;  that  the  mind  should  be  fresh  and  vigorous, 
the  spirit  lively,  buoyant,  and  cheerful. 

We  earnestly  advise  all  who  think  a  great  deal, 
who  have  infirm  health,  who  are  in  trouble,  or  who 
have  to  work  hard,  to  take  all  the  sleep  they  can 
get,  without  medicinal  means. 

No  person  can  sit  still  in  a  warm  room  in  winter 
in  a  draught  of  air  for  five  minutes  without  injury. 
4 


60  DR.    HALL'S   MAXIMS. 

Swallowing  ice  freely  in  small  lumps  is  the 
chief  treatment  in  inflammation  of  the  stomach. 

The  constant  application  of  ice,  pounded  fine, 
and  enveloping  the  head  with  it  by  means  of  a 
cushion,  or  other  contrivance,  is  the  most  reliable 
•■emedy  for  that  dangerous  malady,  inflammation 
of  the  brain,  which  so  often  sends  its  victim  to 
the  grave  in  a  few  days,  or  that  living  death,  the 
mad-house. 

We  caution  parents,  particularly,  not  to  allow 
their  children  to  be  waked  up  of  mornings.  Let 
Nature  wake  them  up ;  she  will  not  do  it  prema- 
turely ;  but  have  a  care  that  they  go  to  bed  at  an 
early  hour ;  let  it  be  earlier  and  earlier,  until  it  is 
found  that  they  wake  up  of  themselves  in  full  time 
to  dress  for  breakfast.  Being  waked  up  early,  and 
allowed  to  engage  in  difficult  or  any  studies  late, 
and  juat  before  retiring,  has  given  many  a  beauti- 
ful and  promising  child  brain  fever,  or  determined 
ordinary  ailments  to  the  production  of  water  on 
the  brain. 

There  is  nothing  like  plain  facts  for  illustration. 

There  are  good  schools  here  and  there ;  but 
three  out  of  four  are  the  merest  shams  ;  per- 
fect impositions.  Too  much  is  attempted,  hence 
much  is  passed  over,  and  there  is  thoroughness  in 
nothing. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  51 

Half  of  all  who  are  born  die  under  twenty 
years  of  age,  while  four  fifths  of  all  who  reach  that 
age,  and  die  before  another  "  score,"  owe  their 
death  to  causes  of  disease  which  were  originated 
in  their  "  teens."  On  a  careful  inquiry,  it  will  be 
ascertained  that  in  nearly  all  cases  the  causes  of 
moral  and  premature  physical  death  are  pretty 
much  one  and  the  same,  and  occur  between  the  ages 
of  "eight  and  sixteen  years."  This  is  a  fact  of  start- 
ling import  to  fathers  and  mothers,  and  shows  a  fear- 
ful responsibility. 

The  best  gymnasium  is  a  wood-yard,  a  "clearing," 
or  a  cornfield. 

Ignorance  with  health  may  be  useful,  may  be 
happy;  l)ut  a  finislied  scholar  with  a  fell  disease  eat- 
ing out  the  life,  can  be  neither,  and  must  early  go 
down  to  the  grave  a  blighted  bud,  a  priceless  jewel 
shivered  in  the  polishing.  But  health  and  high  de- 
velopment tend  to  a  long  and  happy  life. 

Let  parents  make  every  possible  efibrt  to  have 
their  i^hildren  go  to  sleep  in  a  pleasant  humor. 
Never  scold  or  give  lectures,  or  in  any  way  wound 
a  child's  feelings,  as  it  goes  to  bed.  Let  all  banish 
business  and  every  worldly  care  at  bedtime,  and 
let  sleep  come  to  a  mind  at  peace  with  God  and  all 
the  world. 

A  MAN  who  is  in  health,  is  not  morally  entitled 
to  anything  which  he  does  not  earn. 


52  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  undutiful  stepmother  has  driven  countless 
thousands  from  once  happy  and  virtuous  homes  to 
crime  and  infamy.  Harsh,  unfeeling,  inconsiderate 
teachers  have  many  times  driven  the  young  to  des- 
peration or  hopelessness. 

Women  require  less  sleep  than  men ;  possibly 
because  they  are  less  in  the  open  air,  the  soporific 
effects  of  which  are  seen  in  infants  speedily  going 
to  sleep  when  taken  out  of  doors. 

Many  who  are  troubled  with  weak  eyes,  by 
avoiding  the  use  of  them  in  reading,  sewing,  and 
the  like,  until  after  breakfast,  will  be  able  to  use 
them  with  greater  comfort  for  the  remainder  of  the 
day,  the  reason  being,  that  in  the  digestion  of  the 
food  the  blood  is  called  in  from  all  parts  of  the  sys- 
tem, to  a  certain  extent,  to  aid  the  stomach  in  that 
important  process ;  besides,  the  food  eaten  gives 
general  strength,  imparts  a  stimulus  to  the  whole 
man,  and  the  eyes  partake  of  their  share. 

In  all  inflammations,  whether  internal  or  exter- 
nal, ice  diminishes  rapidly  the  size  of  the  blood- 
vessels, and  thus  relieves  the  pain  they  give  when 
thus  swollen  by  their  pressing  against  the  nerves 
which  are  always  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  arte- 
ries of  the  system. 

As  a  universal  rule  in  health,  and,  with  very 
rare  exceptions,  in  disease,  that  is  best  to  be  eaten 
which  the  appetite  craves  or  the  taste  relishes. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  53 

Persons  rarely  err  in  the  qualtity  of  the  food 
eaten;  nature's  instincts  are  the  wise  regulators 
in  this  respect. 

The  great  sources  of  mischief  from  eating  are 
three :  Quantity,  Frequency,  Rapidity ;  and  from 
these  come  the  horrible  dyspepsias,  which  make  of 
human  life  a  burden,  a  torture,  a  living  death. 

Wealth  belongs  to  some  men,  just  as  intellect 
belongs  to  others.  They  would  be  rich  anywhere, 
just  as  their  envious  neighbors  would  be  poor  any- 
where. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  have  two  pairs  of  shoes, 
to  be  worn  on  alternate  days,  so  as  to  have  a  per- 
fectly dry  pair  to  put  on  every  morning,  allowing 
the  unworn  ones  to  remain  in  a  warm,  dry  place. 

First-rate  mechanics  are  always  in  demand,  and 
seldom  fail,  not  only  to  make  money,  but  to  save 
it;  and  with  that  to  elevate  themselves,  their  fami- 
lies, and  their  calling ;  but  these  are  in  such  a  mi- 
nority, that  the  more  numerous  incompetent,  and 
hence  thriftless  class,  are  the  ones  who  give  char- 
acter to  the  name  of"  mechanic,  which  is  too  often 
a  low  one ;  when,  if  every  one  was  a  master-work- 
man, it  would  be  but  another  name  for  industry^ 
elevation,  and  thrift. 

Filth,  disease,  and  moral  death  are  associated 
together  in  all  times  and  places. 


54  DR.  Hall's  maxims. 

If  the  poor  man  thinks  he  works  any  harder  than 
the  rich  man,  he  is  much  mistaken ;  if  he  thinks 
that  the  other  enjoys  more  substantial  comfort,  ho 
is  equally  in  error. 

If  it  is  true  that  the  man  who  rears  a  son  with- 
out having  him  taught  the  means  of  earning  a 
living,  rears  that  child  to  large  chances  for  the 
penitentiary  and  the  gallows,  it  is  not  the  less  true, 
and  is  becoming  daily  more  so,  that  the  daughter 
who  is  ushered  into  womanhood  without  the  knowl- 
edge and  ability  to  earn  a  dollar  by  honorable 
means,  is  raised  to  the  chances  of  an  early  death, 
or  degradations  worse  than  death  itself. 

Let  man  never  forget  that  his  wife  is  his  best 
friend,  the  most  steadfast  on  earth,  would  do  more 
for  him  in  calamity,  in  misfortune,  and  sickness 
than  any  other  human  being;  and  that  on  this  ac- 
count, to  say  nothing  of  the  marriage  vow,  made 
before  high  heaven  and  before  men,  he  owes  to  the 
wife  of  his  bosom  a  consideration,  a  tenderness,  a 
support,  and  a  sympathy,  Avhich  should  put  out  of 
sight  every  feeling  of  profit  and  loss  the  very  in- 
stant they  come  in  collision  with  his  wife's  welfare 
as  to  her  body,  her  mind,  and  her  affections.  No 
man  will  ever  lose,  in  the  long  run,  by  so  doing;  he 
will  not  lose  in  time,  will  not  lose  in  a  dying  hour, 
nor  in  that  great  and  mysterious  future  which  lies 
before  all. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  55 

There  is  a  delirium  tremens  of  over-eating  as 
well  as  of  over-drinking. 

The  man  dressed  in  spotless  white  will  not  fail 
to  have  his  garments  blackened  if  he  mingles 
among  a  crowd  of  sweeps.  There  are  clergymen 
who  cannot  feel  authorized  to  occupy  the  pulpit  of 
persons  claiming  to  be  clergymen  too,  for  fear  it 
should  be  construed  to  countenance  the  supposed 
errors  of  the  latter.  No  man  of  position  can  allow 
himself  to  associate,  without  prejudice,  with  the 
profane,  the  Sabbath-breaker,  the  drunken,  and  the 
licentious,  for  he  lowers  himself,  without  elevating 
them.  The  sweep  is  not  made  the  less  black  by 
rubbing  against  the  well-dressed  and  the  clean, 
while  they  are  inevitably  defiled. 

Valuable  lives  are  often  thrown  away,  lost, 
through  ignorance  of  some  of  the  simplest  truths 
m  nature,  or  errors  of  judgment  in  matters  where 
3rror  becomes  a  crime.  Some  of  the  best,  and 
wisest,  and  greatest  men  of  our  race  have  perished 
from  the  world,  in  consequence  of  what  might  be 
considered  a  carelessness,  a  recklessness,  or  an 
ignorance,  which  is  amazing,  as  found  in  minds  like 
theirs. 

To  persons  whose  lungs  are  impaired,  or  whose 
throats  are  in  a  diseased  condition,  the  air  of  the 
sea-shore  is  almost  always  poisonous,  sometimes 
deadly. 


66  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  poor  are  prone  to  think  that  in  riches  there 
is  happiness.  The  rich  know  that  riches  do  not  se- 
cure happiness,  and  hence  look  to  religion  as  the 
only  source  left  for  enduring  pleasures,  and  the 
hopes  of  heaven.  Hence  most  of  the  greatest  of 
earth's  rulers  this  day  recognize  the  claims  of  Chris- 
tianity as  they  understand  it,  and  more  or  less 
square  their  lives  by  its  precepts. 

As  this  country  grows  older,  the  necessity  in- 
creases of  each  individual  being  able  to  earn  a 
living. 

If  you  are  a  human,  and  not  a  brute,  never  allow 
children  to  go  to  bed  with  wounded  or  ruffled 
feelings  from  any  angry  words,  or  harsh  or  hasty 
conduct  on  your  part.  Always  send  them  off  to 
school  in  a  happy  and  affectionate  state  of  mind; 
and  when  they  return,  let  them  be  invariably  re- 
ceived with  a  kindly  greeting,  and  a  loving,  thank- 
ful heart,  that  they  are  once  more  returned  to  you  in 
health  and  safety.  These  things  are  the  more  ne- 
cessary as  their  ambitions,  their  disappointments, 
their  discouragements,  and  their  troubles,  in  refer- 
ence to  their  school  and  their  lessons,  are  as  impor- 
tant to  them  as  yours  to  you  in  the  mightier  matters 
of  life  ;  and  if  they  find  not  a  balm  for  all  these  in 
the  affection,  and  smiles,  and  sympathy,  of  their 
mothers  especially,  it  is  to  them  a  misfortune,  and  to 
Buoh  mothers  a  disgrace. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  57 

Exercise  improves  the  health,  because  every 
step  a  man  takes  tends  to  impart  motion  to  the 
bowels ;  a  proper  amount  of  exercise  keeps  them 
acting  once  in  every  twenty-four  hours.  If  they 
have  not  motion  enough,  there  is  constipation, 
wliich  brings  on  very  many  fatal  diseases ;  hence 
exercise,  especially  that  of  walking,  wards  off  inna< 
merable  diseases,  when  it  is  kept  up  to  an  extent 
equal  to  inducing  one  action  of  the  bowels  daily. 

The  body  is  refreshed  by  rest ;  the  brain  is  ren- 
ovated by  sleep,  by  absolute  repose.  But  both 
body  and  brain  may  be  invigorated  for  a  season  by 
changing  the  direction  of  their  respective  activ- 
ities, and  also  by  working  alternately.  A  man  who 
has  become  tired  of  riding  on  horseback  or  in  a 
carriage,  rests  himself,  gets  rid  of  his  fatigue,  by 
walking.  The  brain,  which  has  become  weary  in 
thinking  of  one  subject,  is  refreshed  by  taking 
up  some  other  study.  On  the  other  hand,  a  man 
who  feels  tired  all  over  by  work,  or  a  long  walk, 
will  "  get  rested  "  sooner  by  sitting  down  to  read, 
than  if  he  did  nothing. 

To  happify  mankind,  the  most  efficient  method, 
and  the  shortest  in  the  long  run,  is  to  begin  with 
our  children  while  they  are  yet  infants,  and  pa- 
tiently, seduously,  and  prayerfully  inculcate  the 
sentiment  that  the  Bible  is  the  only  safe  rule  of 
faith  and  practice,  the  sure,  and  only  sure  guide  to 
a  blessed  immortality. 


58  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Begin  early  to  live  under  the  beuign  influences 
of  the  Christian  religion,  for  it  "  has  the  promise  of 
the  life  that  now  is,  and  of  that  which  is  to  come." 

Furnaces  should  not  bq  removed,  nor  fireplaces 
and  grates  cleaned  for  the  summer,  until  the  first 
ol'  June,  for  a  brisk  fire  in  the  grate  is  sometimes 
very  comfortable  in  the  last  week  in  May :  that 
may  be  a  rare  occurrence,  but  as  it  does  sometimes 
take  place,  it  is  better  to  be  prepared  for  it,  than 
to  sit  shivering  for  half  a  day,  with  the  risk  to  our- 
selves and  children,  of  some  violent  attack  of 
spring  disease. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  prevalence  of  bowel 
complaints,  of  all  kinds,  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
and  of  their  fatal  nature,  sometimes  spreading  from 
house  to  house,  from  family  to  family,  from  neighbor- 
hood to  neighborhood,  like  some  infectious  or  con- 
tagious disease,  and  often,  but  most  erroneously, 
attributed  to  the  use  of  fruits,  berries,  and  the  like. 
The  cause  is  one  and  universal :  it  is  over-eating, 
with  its  legitimate  results  —  sour  stomach,  wind, 
loose  bowels,  debility,  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  and 
death.  Thus  it  is,  that  the  more  sudden  the  com- 
ing on  of  spring  weather,  and  the  hotter  it  is, 
the  more  sickness  there  will  be,  while  in  the  fall 
of  the  year,  as  the  weather  gets  colder,  and  how- 
ever suddenly,  we  begin  at  once  to  gain  in  appe- 
tite, in  vigor,  in  flesh  and  health. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  59 

Exercise  is  healthful,  because  ihe  more  we  ex- 
ercise the  faster  we  breathe.  If  we  breathe  faster, 
we  take  that  much  more  air  into  the  lungs ;  but  it 
is  the  air  we  breathe  which  purifies  the  blood,  and 
the  more  air  we  take  in,  the  more  perfectly  is  that 
process  performed ;  the  purer  the  blood  is,  as 
everybody  knows,  the  better  the  health  must  be. 
Hence,  when  a  person's  lungs  are  impaired,  he  does 
not  take  in  enough  air  for  the  wants  of  the  system ; 
that  being  the  case,  the  air  he  does  breathe  should 
be  the  purest  possible,  which  is  out-door  air. 
Hence,  the  more  a  consumptive  stays  in  the  house, 
the  more  certain  and  more  speedy  is  his  death. 

Keep  your  children  at  home  as  much,  and  to- 
gether, as  long  as  it  is  possible  for  you  to  do  it. 
No  better  plan  can  be  devised  for  enabling  a 
household  to  grow  up  loving  and  being  loved  in 
all  its  members. 

To  merchants,  clerks,  lawyers,  to  all  who  follow 
sendentary  occupations,  who  arc  kept  within  foui 
walls  for  a  large  portion  of  every  twenty-foui 
hours,  no  better  advice  can  be  given  than  to  go  off 
among  the  mountains;  climb  to  their  tops;  descend 
into  their  valleys ;  penetrate  their  recesses,  on  foot, 
on  horse,  in  every  conceivable  mode  of  locomotion ; 
and  they  should  consider  every  hour  of  daylight 
lost  which  does  not  find  them  in  interested  motion 
in  'the  open  air. 


60  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Farming,  or  any  other  active  out-door  life,  tends 
to  perfect  digestion. 

Upper  rooms  may  be  safely  aired  during  any  por- 
tion of  the  twenty-four  hours,  and  should  be  aired 
from  without.  Lower  rooms  should  be  aired  in 
the  heat  of  the  day,  and  closed  while  slept  in  at 
night,  only  opening  the  inner  doors. 

Let  us,  as  a  means  of  health,  feed  more  on  the 
beneficences  of  our  Creator:  it  is  a  food  which 
strengthens  the  mind,  elevates  the  soul,  enlarges 
the  heart,  and  leads  the  whole  man  upward  and  on- 
ward by  a  pathway  full  of  light,  and  flowers,  and 
sunshine,  a  pathway  smooth,  and  safe,  and  sure, 
where  no  snare  is  ever  set,  where  lurking  dangers 
never  come,  whose  beginning  is  in  a  world  of  trial, 
whose  ending  is  in  the  bosom  of  God  1 

The  use  of  oils,  or  pomatums,  or  grease  of  bears, 
pigs,  geese,  or  anything  else,  is  ruinous  to  the  hair 
of  man  or  woman.  We  consider  it  a  filthy  prac- 
tice, almost  universal  though  it  be,  for  it  gathers 
dust  and  dirt,  and  soils  whatever  it  touches.  Noth- 
ing but  pure  sott  water  should  ever  be  allowed  on 
the  heads  of  our  children.  It  is  a  difi<erent  prac- 
tice that  robs  our  women  of  their  most  beautiful 
ornament  long  before  their  prime. 

If  you  would  certainly  avoid  the  teirible  fate  of 
a  suicide,  live  a  life  of  temperate  eating,  and  of  mod 
erate  bodily  activities. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  61 

Vinegar,  in  its  action  on  food,  is  raore  nearly  like 
the  gastric  juice  than  any  other  fluid  known ;  thus 
it  is  that  a  pickle,  or  a  little  vinegar,  will  "  settle 
the  stomach,"  when  some  discomfort  is  experi- 
enced after  eating. 

Let  it  be  kept  in  remembrance  that  every 
mouthful  of  food,  even  of  the  mildest,  a  man  swal- 
lows from  the  instant  a  cold  has  been  taken,  only 
makes  a  proportional  amount  of  phlegm  to  be 
coughed  up.  "  Feed  a  cold  and  starve  a  fever,"  is 
a  tremendous  lie.  Starve  them  to  death,  as  we 
would  a  garrison,  by  cutting  off  supplies,  and  the 
fortress  will  be  yielded  within  thirty-six  hours,  if 
the  process  be  begun  within  twelve  hours  after 
the  cold  has  been  taken. 

It  was  both  a  wise  and  beneficent  dispensation, 
that  man  should  have  been  made  capable  of  eating 
anything,  and  of  living  anywhere,  and  living,  too,  in 
comparative  enjoyment.  Livingston,  the  benefac- 
tor of  commerce,  and  Howard,  the  benefactor  of 
man,  have  shown  by  their  lives  that  health  may  be 
maintained  in  any  country  by  those  who  were  not 
born  to  the  soil,  at  the  expense  only  of  rational 
care. 

Nine  out  of  ten  of  all  the  complaints  against  the 
Post  Office  Department  arise  from  the  stupidity  or 
carelessness  of  the  persons  who  write,  or  are  to  re- 
ceive the  letters. 


62  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

If  cold  drinks  are  injurious  at  meals,  cold  food  is 
for  the  same  reason  also  injurious;  thus  it  is,  that 
some  of  the  most  terrible  forms  of  disease  are 
brought  on  by  persistence  in  eating  cold  food  ex- 
clusively, especially  in  winter  time. 

Happier  far  than  any  king  is  the  humblest  me- 
chanic, ''  whose  mind  is  stayed,  whose  heart  is 
fixed,  trusting  in "  the  Maker  of  us  all ;  who, 
through  darkness  and  storm,  in  sickness  and  in 
bereavement,  in  pain  of  body  and  mental  grief,  can 
lovingly  look  upward,  and  say,  "Though  He  slay 
me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  Him."  Such  a  man  never 
commits  suicide,  never  becomes  a  lunatic,  never 
fills  a  drunkard's  grave. 

Let  parents  tremble  in  view  of  the  responsibility 
which  rests  upon  them,  not  only  in  preventing 
their  children  from  improper  reading,  but  also  in 
providing  them  with  what  will  attract  by  its 
beauty,  instruct  by  its  truth,  and  compel  convic- 
tion  by  its  point  and  power;  -or  which,  by  its 
admirable  simplicity,  and  the  sweetness  of  its  sen- 
timents, shall  mould  the  character  for  high  useful- 
ness in  life,  and  the  society  of  the  blessed  beyond 
the  grave. 

For  the  hour  preceding  bedtime,  dismiss  every 
engrossing  subject  from  the  mind,  and  let  it  be  em- 
ployed about  something  soothing  and  enlivening  Id 
cheerful  thankfulness. 


DR.   hall's   MAXIM8.  63 

The  want  of  employment  is  at  the  foundation  of 
the  ill  health  of  multitudes  of  women  and  youth  in 
large  cities.  We  have  frequent  occasion  to  feel  in 
reference  to  women  who  apply  to  us  for  medical 
advice,  "  The  best  medicine  for  you  is  the  wash- 
tub." 

Young  men  see  that  a  wedding  involves  a  mael- 
strom of  expense,  and  the  extravagance  of  hotel 
or  boarding-house  life  ;  or  of  a  cook,  and  housemaid, 
and  semptress  to  begin  with ;  then  come  belong- 
ings to  match.  To  meet  these  calls  on  his  purse, 
which  is  only  to  be  replenished  by  his  personal  ef- 
forts, is  only  to  be  done  by  the  ceaseless  slavery  of 
work.  He  "  calculates,"  and  declines  the  under- 
taking until  he  can  lay  up  something  to  begin  with. 
This  event,  in  some  instances,  is  indefinitely  post- 
poned ;  by  the  time  it  occurs  in  others,  "  mistakes  " 
have  been  committed,  or  entangling  alliances  have 
diminished  the  respect  for  women,  and  less  endur- 
ing than  hymeneal  knots  are  fiibricated,  and  more 
easily  untied.  Let  young  mothers  begin  this  day 
to  take  a  wiser  lesson ;  and  as  they  value  the  social 
position  and  future  happiness  of  their  daughters,  as 
they  would  deprecate  from  them  a  life  of  loneliness, 
an  age  of  neglect,  and  a  tearless  burial,  let  them 
remember  that  the  education  which  most  befits  the 
sex,  is  that  which  prepares  her  to  fill  with  ability, 
love,  and  dignity  the  offices  of  wife,  mother,  and 
matron. 


64  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

A  MAN  of  ordinary  size  renders  a  hogshead  of 
air  unfit  for  breathing,  consumes  its  blood-purifying 
quality  every  hour,  so  perfectly,  that  if  a  man  could 
re-breathe  a  full  breath  of  his  own  the  next  instant 
after  its  expiration,  without  any  intermixture  with 
the  outer  air,  he  would  be  instantly  suffocated. 

No  man  of  any  prudence  or  common  sense  ought 
to  administer  chloroform,  except  in  the  presence 
of  a  third  person,  of  intelligence  and  maturity. 
For  ourselves,  we  prefer  to  encounter  danger  with 
our  eyes  open. 

Make  your  calculations  to  be  busy  until  you  die, 
in  doing  something  useful  to  yourselves  or  others ; 
arrange  it  so  that  death  shall  find  you  with  your 
harness  on,  manfully  battling  for  humanity  and  the 
right. 

Three  cases  out  of  every  four  coming  to  me  for 
throat  ail,  have  it  as  the  result  of  improper  eating 
and  drinking 

If  you  want  to  travel  through  the  world  in  a 
quiet,  contented  way,  don't  get  careless  in  any 
respect.  Man,  in  every  phase  of  life,  is  particu- 
larly given  to  carelessness.  If  he  is  on  the  high 
road  to  wealth  and  station,  he  becomes  careless  of 
those  who,  perhaps,  were  the  very  means  of  his 
good  fortune.  On  the  other  hand,  if  he  is  unfor- 
tunate in  business,  he  loses  his  self-respect,  and 
rughes  to  the  dram-shop  or  gaming-table. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  65 

Hair,  or  even  straw  mattresses,  are  more  healthy 
to  sleep  on  than  feather  beds.  Never  put  children 
on  these  heating  beds.  Keep  their  sleeping  rooms 
very  clean  and  well-aired,  and  do  not  cumber  them 
with  unnecessary  furniture. 

Pain  is  the  sleepless  sentinel,  always  at  the  out- 
posts, announcing  on  the  instant  the  first  approach 
in  the  distance  of  the  great  enemy,  disease ;  and 
that  half  humanity  dies  scores  of  years  "before  the 
time,"  is  because  the  faithful  warning  goes  all  un- 
heeded. 

It  is  the  regular  and  temperate  who  live  long. 
It  is  the  very  old  who  die  without  sickness  or  pain 
—  whose  lamp  of  life  goes  out  aa  gently  as  the 
last  flicker  of  an  expiring  candle. 

The  child  who  privately  does  a  thing  for  one 
parent,  known  to  be  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  the 
other,  and  the  parent  who  can  counsel  it,  are 
equally  guilty  of  a  violence  against  domestic  rule, 
which  will  not  cease  to  bear  the  pernicious  fruits 
of  deception  and  discord  to  the  latest  hour  of  their 
lives. 

The  appetite,  the  hunger,  is  excited  by  the  pres- 
ence of  the  gastric  juice  about  the  stomach ;  but 
if  there  is  no  gastric  juice  there  can  be  no  hunger, 
no  appetite,  and  to  compel  a  child  to  swallow  food 
into  the  stomach  when  there  is  no  gastric  juice 
there  to  receive  it,  is  an  absurdity  and  a  cruelty. 
5 


66  DR.   hall's   Mi-XIMS. 

We  regard  public  examinations  and  school  ex- 
hibitions a  cheat  and  a  sham,  in  three  cases  out 
of  four.  It  is  done  for  the  benefit  and  behoof  of 
the  teacher,  and  to  the  irreparable  injury  of  the 
scholar,  while  the  poor  dolt  of  a  parent  has  not 
sense  enough  to  see  through  it.  We  hope  never 
to  see  a  child  of  ours  competitor  for  any  prize  or 
station  at  school. 

That  the  color  of  the  eyes  should  affect  their 
strength  may  seera  strange ;  yet  that  such  is  the 
case  need  not  at  this  time  of  day  to  be  proved ; 
and  those  whose  eyes  are  brown  or  dark  colored 
should  be  informed  that  they  are  weaker  and  more 
susceptible  of  injury,  from  various  causes,  than 
gray  or  blue  eyes.  Light  blue  eyes  are  generally 
the  most  powerful,  and  next  to  those  are  gray.  The 
lighter  the  pupil,  the  greater  and  longer-continued 
is  the  degree  of  tension  the  eye  can  sustain. 

Rest  is  an  invariable  law  of  animal  life.  The 
busy  heart  beats,  beats  ever,  from  infancy  to  age, 
and  yet  for  a  large  part  of  the  time  it  is  in  a  state 
of  repose. 

Implant  into  the  very  nature  of  your  children, 
Irom  earliest  infancy,  an  affectionate  and  implicit 
belief  in  all  Bible  teachings. 

No  school  is  entitled  to  the  name  of"  respectable 
and  thorough,"  where  the  pupils  have  not  regular 
and  stated  teachings  about  health. 


DR.   hall's  MAXIMb.  67 

It  is  unwise  to  hope  for  domestic  happiness  in 
the  possession  of  a  single  favorable  trait  of  charac- 
ter;  it  is  better  to  look  for  a  combination,  and  they 
are  to  be  most  congratulated  who  can  discern,  and 
woo  and  win  the  possessor  of  the  largest  number 
of  good  points.  First  of  all,  the  man  whom  you 
love,  the  woman  whom  you  adore,  should  possess  a 
high  sense  of  right  and  wrong ;  next,  bodily  health  ; 
and,  thirdly,  moral  bravery,  a  courage  to  be  indus- 
trious, economical,  and  self-denying.  With  these 
three  traits,  principle,  health,  and  a  soul  that  can 
do  and  dare  all  that  one  ought  to,  domestic  felicity 
will  abide. 

Alcohol  warms,  and  warms  only,  and  man  can- 
not live  on  warmth  alone ;  while  beefsteak  both 
warms  and  nourishes,  as  does  all  food ;  and  what 
does  not  do  both  cannot  sustain  life,  and  cannot  be 
properly  denominated  food. 

The  hermit  is  but  half  a  saint ;  as  he  wiio  avoids 
the  battle-field  is  but  half  a  soldier.  To  shun 
temptation,  is  well ;  but  to  live  in  the  midst  of  it, 
and  never  yield  to  it,  from  stern  principle  —  that 
is  true  nobility  of  soul. 

The  brute  creation,  obeying  their  instinct,  are 
not  troubled  with  summer  complaints,  and  the 
thousand  ills  which  affect  and  destroy  men.  But 
we  overpower  our  instincts,  and  making  ourselves 
the  slaves  of  appetite,  contrary  to  reason,  perish 
in  multitudes. 


68  DR.   HALL'S   MAXIMS. 

The  practice  of  all  honorable  physicians,  be  it 
known,  is,  over  the  world,  one  and  the  same :  the 
very  moment  they  are  satisfied  of  having  discov- 
ered a  new  and  valuable  remedy,  it  is  sent  off  to 
some  respectable  medical  periodical,  and  within  a 
year  the  remedy  and  its  uses  are  in  the  possession 
of  every  educated  physician  in  Christendom.  It 
is  considered  a  mutual  duty,  and  he  who  fails  of  it 
is  immediately  placed  beneath  contempt. 

One  of  the  best  exercises  for  women  who  are 
not  very  well,  is  a  walk  in  the  streets,  or  the 
fields,  with  a  cheerful  companion.  To  find  an  ex- 
ercise suitable  for  women  in-doors  is  very  difficult : 
sewing  is  too  confining,  scrubbing  the  floor  to  vio- 
lent ;  and  under  the  great  variety  of  circumstan- 
ces under  which  women  are  placed  in  families,  we 
can  do  nothing  more  than  to  lay  down  a  principle, 
and  let  each  one  act  in  reference  to  it :  That  exer- 
cise is  best  which  keeps  the  body  in  motion,  and 
interests  the  mind  pleasurably. 

From  an  extended  and  varied  observation  of 
forty  years,  I  have  arrived  at  the  stereotype  ad- 
vice to  all  who  consult  me  as  to  my  opinion  of  the 
value  of  the  daily  use  of  a  small  amount  of  pure 
wines,  or  cordials,  or  brandies,  that,  — 

Any  man  who  once  drinks  a  drop  of  "  liquor," 
may  die  in  the  gutter ;  he  who  tastes  it  never, 
never  can. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  69 

We  do  not  believe  that  Providence  has  anything 
to  do  with  the  production  of  sickness  or  disease, 
beyond  the  institution  of  certain  laws  which  he 
has  made  for  the  government  of  the  world,  any 
more  than  that  he  has  an  agency  in  the  burning 
of  our  finger  if  we  put  it  in  the  fire. 

An  habitual  novel  reader  is  no  more  of  the  world 
about  him  than  the  habitual  dram  drinker :  neither 
of  them  can  see  things  around  them  as  they  are ; 
both  are  living  an  artificial  life,  a  life  unreal,  un- 
satisfactory, and  profitless  to  tliemselves  and  to 
others. 

A  SINGLE  word,  uttered  by  a  child  to  a  parent,  in 
a  moment  of  excitement,  of  a  parent  to  a  child, 
of  a  husband  to  a  wife,  has  many  a  time  before 
now  quenched  every  spark  of  human  emotion  and 
of  human  love,  and  a  hate  has  sprung  from  the 
ashes  as  virulent  as  the  deadly  Upas,  only  to  go 
out  in  the  night  of  the  grave.  Human  happiness, 
and  life  itself,  then,  often  depends  on  a  failure  to 
control  the  mental  emotion.  An  effort  to  practise 
such  a  control  should  be  early  made ;  the  earlier 
the  better. 

The  Almighty  rested  one  seventh  of  the  time  of 
creation,  commanding  man  to  observe  an  equal  re- 
pose ;  and  the  neglect  of  this  injunction  will  always 
sooner  or  later,  bring  mental,  moral,  and  physical 
death. 


70  PR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  man  who  consumes  more  than  he  earns,  is 
guilty  of  robbery.  He  who  hangs  a  mere  clog 
upon  the  social  state,  has  no  legitimate  right  to 
the  food  he  swallows,  or  to  the  clothes  he  wears. 
Every  dollar  he  spends  is  a  fraud  upon  his  toiling 
neighbor ;  and  the  sooner  he  vanishes  from  exist- 
ence, and  gives  place  to  a  man  with  work  in  him, 
the  better  will  it  be  for  the  town,  village,  or  hamlet 
which  his  good-for-nothing  body  encumbers.  The 
idea  that  a  portion  of  humanity  is  made  of  porce- 
lain, and  not  of  common  clay,  for  ornament  and 
not  for  use,  may  do  for  the  creed  of  dandies,  who 
saunter  through  life,  basking  in  the  social  sunshine 
which  they  have  never  helped  to  create ;  but  it 
must  be  scouted  by  all  honest  men  who  get  their 
bread  by  the  sweat  of  their  brows,  and  by  lives  of 
honorable  toil  fulfil  the  fiat  of  their  Creator. 

The  eff'ect  of  tea  is  to  enliven ;  it  produces  a 
comfortable  exhilaration  of  spirits,  it  wakens  up, 
and  increases  the  working  capabilities  of  the  brain, 
and  brings  out  the  kindlier  feelings  of  our  nature 
in  moderation,  having  them  always  under  our  con- 
trol. 

Those  who  do  not  make  good  health  a  study  and 
an  aim,  who  do  not  practise  daily  the  temperances 
and  self-denials  which  seldom  fail  to  secure  this 
good  health,  are  committing  a  crime  against  their 
unborn  children,  which  they  never  can  atone  for. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  71 

The  love  of  life  is  a  universal  instinct ;  life  is  a 
duty,  its  peril  or  neglect  a  crime.  We  are  placed 
on  earth  for  a  purpose ;  that  purpose  can  be  none 
other  than  to  give  us  an  opportunity  of  doing  good 
to  ourselves  and  to  others ;  and  to  be  anxious  to  be 
'  off  duty  "  sooner  than  God  wills,  is  no  indication 
nf  true  piety.  The  good  man  has  one  ruling,  ever- 
present  desire,  and  that  is  to  live  as  long  on  the 
earth  as  his  Maker  pleases,  and  while  living,  to  do 
the  utmost  he  can  to  benefit  and  bless  mankind ; 
and  to  accomplish  a  long,  and  active,  and  useful 
life,  th(^  study  how  to  preserve  and  promote  a  high 
degree  of  bodily  health  is  indispensable.  And  it 
seems  to  have  been  ordained  by  a  Providence  both 
kind  and  wise,  as  a  reward  of  a  temperate  life, 
that  such  a  life  should  be  largely  extended,  and 
that  its  decline  should  be  as  calm  as  a  summer's 
evening,  as  gentle  as  the  babe  sleeps  itself  away 
on  its  mother's  bosom. 

One  of  the  glorious  advantages  of  a  large  city  is, 
people  are  obliged  to  mind  their  own  business, 
and  pretty  diligently  too,  oi  they  will  soon  go  to 
the  wall. 

Let  no  one  work  in  pain  or  weariness.  Wlien 
a  man  is  tired,  he  ought  to  lie  down  until  he  is 
most  fully  rested,  when,  with  renovated  strength, 
the  work  will  be  better  done,  done  the  sooner,  done 
with  a  self-sustaining  alacrity. 


72  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

OuJB  advice  is,  if  ai)j thing  is  the  matter  with 
your  teeth,  go  to  a  go  (d  dentist  at  once,  and  even 
if  nothing  is  tlie  matter,  consult  him  twice  a  year, 
and  compel  each  one  of  your  children  to  do  the 
same,  from  the  age  of  five  years  up  to  the  time  of 
njarriage,  and  these  children  will  have  reason  to 
thank  you  for  it  to  tlie  close  of  life. 

Horseback  exercise,  to  be  highly  beneficial, 
should  be  active;  a  "hand  gallop,"  vr  a  trot;  and, 
if  practicable,  a  different  road  should  be  tiavelled 
every  day,  so  that  the  mind  may  l)e  diverted  by 
novelties,  and  thus  compelled  away  tVom  bodily 
ailments. 

In  watching  with  sick  people,  eat  a  regular  meal 
bef(  re  you  go  into  the  roonj,  and  repeat  at  inter- 
vals of  not  over  four  hours  ;  this  keeps  the  stomach 
in  a  state  of  excitement,  which  rej)els  infection. 

Speak  kindly,  cheerfully,  encouragingly  to  the 
sick. 

In  waiting  upon  them,  study  the  happy  mean  in 
anticipating  their  wants,  without  being  annoyingly 
officious. 

Do  not  stare  at  a  sick  man,  nor  show  a  surprised 
countenance,  and  speak  softly,  with  distinctness. 

In  passing  from  a  place  of  religious  worship, 
do  nothing,  by  word,  or  gesture,  or  action,  incom- 
patible with  the  solemnity  of  God's  peculiar  pres- 
ence. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  73 

Alcohol,  in  an}^  of  its  combinations,  intoxicates, 
makes  wild,  places  a  man  out  of  his  own  power ;  he 
gets  beside  himself;  he  can't  control  himself,  nor 
can  any  one  else  control  him,  except  by  brute 
force.  Upon  some  persons  it  has  the  effect  of 
eliciting  the  darkest  and  deadliest  passions  of  our 
nature. 

Costive  bowels  have  an  agreeable  remedy  in 
the  free  use  of  tomatoes  at  meals ;  their  seeds  act- 
ing in  the  way  of  the  seeds  of  white  mustard  or 
figs,  by  stimulating  the  coats  of  the  bowels  over 
which  they  pass,  in  their  whole  state,  to  increased 
action. 

Many  dentists  inculcate  two  most  mischievous 
errors.  Threads  should  never  be  drawn  between 
the  teeth.  A  permanent  tooth  ought  never  to  be 
extracted  to  make  room  for  others.  Nature  knows 
what  she  is  about.  Every  tooth  is  needed  to  de- 
velop the  jaw,  and  that  is  of  more  importance 
than  regularity.  Soft  brushes  only  should  be  used 
for  the  teeth. 

If  a  man  fails  in  business,  it  is  not,  at  any  time 
of  life,  a  true  resignation  to  give  up  for  the  re- 
mainder of  his  days,  and  make  no  further  effort  to 
recover  himself,  any  more  than  it  is  a  true  resigna- 
tion for  a  man  who  gets  sick,  to  cry  out,  "  The  will 
of  the  Lord  be  done  I "  as  if  it  could  be  his  will  to 
see  a  child  of  his  suffer. 


74  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

That  man  commits  a  crime,  and  so  does  the 
woman,  who  will  send  a  child  to  bed  with  a 
wounded  spirit,  or  who  shall  allow  any  vindictive- 
ness  of  feeling  to  exist  in  consequence  of  anything 
the  child  may  have  done.  Sharp-pointed  memories 
have  often  driven  men  mad.  Multitudes  are  there 
who  are  more  dead  than  alive  from  the  ailings  of 
the  mind,  which  is  wasting  itself  away  in  vain 
remorses  for  the  irrevocable  past.  The  fault  of 
most  parents  is  over-harsh  reproofs  of  their  chil- 
dren —  reproofs  that  are  hasty,  unproportioned  to 
the  oflFence,  and  hence,  as  to  one's  own  child,  help- 
less and  unresisting,  are  a  cruelty,  as  well  as  an 
injustice.  Thrice  happy  is  that  parent  who  has 
no  child  in  the  grave  which  can  be  wished  back, 
if  only  for  a  brief  space,  so  as  to  afford  some  op- 
portunity for  repairing  some  unmerited  unkind- 
ness  towards  the  dead  darling. 

It  is  more  healthful  to  wear  woollen  next  the 
skin  in  summer,  because  it  absorbs  the  moisture 
of  perspiration  so  rapidly  as  to  keep  the  skin 
measurably  dry  all  the  time. 

My  own  personal  observation  bears  me  out  in 
the  saying,  that  persons  of  moderate  mental  cal- 
ibre, of  medium  capacities,  are  most  likely  to  live 
long,  live  healthfully,  live  happily,  and  live  suc- 
cessfully, whether  as  to  making  a  comfortable  liv- 
ing, or  having  a  solid  influence  in  society. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  76 

The  man  who  oflfers  bad  weather  as  an  excuse 
for  not  going  and  paying  a  debt,  will  never  suc- 
ceed in  business ;  nor  will  he  get  well  who,  for 
that  reason,  fails  to  take  his  daily  exercise,  when 
it  is  an  indispensable  means  of  cure. 

It  is  a  common  belief  that,  as  a  man  advances  in 
the  world,  he  is  desirous  of  cutting  those  who  do 
not  gain  so  rapidly  as  himself.  This  is  an  error, 
no  doubt,  in  many  instances,  and  the  remedy  is 
one  of  the  easiest  things  in  the  world.  A  little  of 
the  starch  out  of  the  one,  and  the  slightest  liberal 
feeling  on  the  other,  will  be  found  to  be  a  true 
panacea  for  nine  tenths  of  the  imaginary  shys 
which  lead  to  the  entire  separation  of  old  friends, 
and  even  goes  so  far  sometimes  as  to  produce 
bad  feelings  among  relatives. 

Invalids  should  never  take  any  cold  drink  at 
meals ;  and  whether  hot  or  cold,  they  are  wise  and 
safe  who  never  allow  themselves  over  a  quarter  of 
a  pint  of  any  liquid  at  a  regular  meal,  or  within  am 
hour  afterwards. 

The  less  a  man  drinks  of  anything  in  hot 
weather,  the  better ;  for  the  more  we  drink,  the 
more  we  want  to  drink,  until  even  ice  water  palls, 
and  becomes  of  a  metallic  taste.  Hence  the 
longer  you  can  put  oflf  drinking  cold  water  on 
the  morning  of  a  hot  day,  the  better  will  you  feel 
at  night. 


76  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Next  to  the  clergy,  the  educated  physician  is 
the  greate&t  benefactor  and  conservator  of  the 
race,  performs  more  personal  service  without  fee 
or  reward,  and  at  his  own  individual  expense,  than 
any  other  class  in  society.  Very  much  that  doc- 
tors do  is  not  appreciated  by  the  great  public  —  is 
never  dreamed  of  by  the  masses.  The  common 
feeling  towards  a  medical  man  is,  that  he  is  ex- 
pected to  come  to  us  when  we  send  for  him,  to 
know  what  is  the  matter  with  us,  what  we  need. 
and,  after  we  get  well,  to  send  his  bill,  receive 
payment,  and  the  whole  is  settled.  But  in  all  this, 
his  solicitudes,  the  balancing  of  his  hopes  and 
fears,  the  comparisons  he  has  to  make  in  his  own 
mind,  the  judgments  he  has  to  form,  and  the  re- 
sponsibilities he  has  to  assume,  singly  and  alone, 
without  counsel,  without  sympathy  —  these  are 
not  taken  into  account.  Money  could  not  pay  for 
them. 

If  a  natural  amount  of  fresh  blood  is  sent  to  the 
brain,  it  acts  with  its  natural  healthful  vigor.  If 
more  than  a  natural  amount  of  blood  is  sent  there, 
the  brighter  and  quicker  are  the  thoughts. 

Whatever  "  excites "  the  brain,  causes  an  in- 
creased amount  of  blood  to  be  supplied  there. 

Sleeping-rooms  should  never  be  papered,  and, 
most  of  all,  with  paper  having  any  green  color, 
whatever  paper-makers  may  say  to  the  contrary. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  77 

Most  men  would  hesitate  to  attempt  the  repair 
of  a  watch,  or  even  an  old  shoe ;  and  yet  not  a 
few  are  found  to  experiment  in  the  repair  of  the 
most  intricate,  yet  beautiful  machinery  of  human 
life,  without  apparent  fear  of  harm.  Those  who 
plead  their  own  cases  in  court,  and  those  who 
attempt  to  tinker  up  their  own  constitutions,  are 
equally  unwise. 

Health  is  promoted,  happiness  increased,  and 
life  prolonged  by  the  large  contemplation  of  the 
beautiful  in  nature,  art,  and  revelation.  Natural 
philosophers  live  longer  than  any  other  class  of 
men ;  clergymen,  than  either  of  the  other  profes- 
sions. The  human  mind  everywhere  takes  in 
truth  with  pleasure ;  it  feeds  on  what  is  new,  and, 
if  the  new  is  beautiful  and  true,  it  is  a  feast  of  fat 
things,  nourishing  the  immortal  part,  and  giving 
life  to  the  body  itself. 

For  consumptives,  Florida  is  too  hot,  and  low, 
and  damp  —  there  is  so  little  that  is  bracing  in  its 
atmosphere  ;  and  then  its  mosquitos,  and  alliga- 
tors, and  bullfrogs,  its  ticks,  and  its  sand-flies,  are 
enough  to  deter  the  stoutest  heart. 

The  only  perfec/ly  safe  preserve  jar  is  that 
which  is  made  of  glass.  All  others  ought  to  be 
discarded  They  are  cheap,  more  easily  and  more 
perfectly  cleaned,  and,  with  reasonable  care,  will 
last  a  lifetime. 


78  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

All  inflammations,  internal  or  external,  are 
promptly  subdued  by  the  application  of  ice  or  ice- 
water,  because  it  is  converted  into  steam,  and 
rapidly  conveys  away  the  extra  heat,  and  also 
diminishes  the  quantity  of  blood  in  the  vessels  of 
the  part. 

A  piece  of  ice  laid  on  the  wrist  will  often  arrest 
violent  bleeding  of  the  nose. 

Baked  potatoes  are  easily  digested,  requiring 
only  two  hours  and  a  half,  but  one  hour  longer  if 
boiled.  If  baked  in  the  ashes,  and  eaten  with 
butter  and  salt,  they  are  sweeter  and  more  health- 
ful than  by  any  other  mode  of  preparation. 

We  have  no  doubt  that  the  world  would  be  the 
better  for  it,  if  every  newspaper  in  the  land  were 
to  rigidly  exclude  from  its  columns  everything 
which  had  a  bearing  on  health,  except  such  as 
referred  to  the  daily  habits  of  life,  and  even  these 
to  admit  with  caution,  knowing,  as  we  do,  that 
many  things  which,  at  the  first  glance,  appear 
rational  and  useful,  will  not  bear  the  light  of  in- 
vestigation. 

We  advise  that  no  person  should  go  to  work,  or 
take  exercise  in  the  morning  on  an  empty  stomach ; 
but  if  it  is  stimulated  to  action  by  a  cup  of  coffee, 
or  a  crust  of  bread,  or  apple,  or  orange,  exercise 
can  be  taken,  not  only  with  impunity,  but  to  high 
advantage  in  all  chill  and  fever  localities. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  T9 

It  is  beyond  dispute  that  bad  whiskey,  that 
adulterated  liquors,  are  exercising  a  most  perni- 
cious and  destructive  influence  over  the  health, 
and  morals,  and  minds  of  vast  multitudes  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States. 

Never  eat  by  rule.  Never  eat  at  one  meal  as 
much  as  you  did  at  the  corresponding  one  the  day 
before,  simply  because  that  was  your  usual  quan- 
tity ;  but  eat  according  to  your  appetite.  If  you 
have  no  appetite,  eat  nothing  uniil  you  do.  If  you 
are  in  a  hurry  for  that  appetite,  and  time  is  valu- 
able to  you,  do  not  attempt  to  whet  it  up  by  stimu- 
lating food,  by  exciting  drinks,  or  forcing  tonics, 
but  bring  it  about  in  a  natural  way,  by  moderate 
and  continuous  exercise  in  the  open  air,  in  some- 
thing that  is  interesting,  exciting,  and  in  itself 
useful. 

In  spring,  be  a  strict  vegetarian,  be  a  strict  cold- 
water  man,  keep  clean,  keep  cheerful,  keep  out  of 
doors,  and  your  spring-time  will  not  be  the  sleepi- 
ness of  the  pig,  but  it  will  be  as  gleeful  and  as 
gladsome  as  that  of  the  sweetest  birds  of  May. 

When  a  man  once  steps  aside  from  an  honorable 
path,  when  he  once  violates  his  convictions  of  truth, 
when  he  once  descends  to  trickery,  no  optics  sharp 
can  see  where  that  man  will  go,  no  divining  rod 
can  measure  the  depth  of  degradation  to  which  he 
may  descend. 


80  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Which  one  of  our  readers  can  lay  his  hand  on 
his  heart,  and  say  tliat  he  has  not,  many  a  time 
and  oft,  got  mad  at  some  unimportant  thing,  and 
talked,  and  blamed,  and  scolded  for  "  ever  so  long," 
and,  when  the  fume  and  froth  of  fury  were  all 
gone,  felt  as  if  it  would  have  been  the  most  de- 
lightful retreat  in  the  world  to  have  crept  into  an 
auger-hole ;  felt  so  particularly  mean  that  he  could 
not,  by  any  possibility,  have  raised  courage  enough 
to  look  a  man  in  the  face  ? 

The  times  are  numberless  at  which  we  have 
seen  travellers,  at  home  and  abroad,  on  land  and 
sea,  suffering  the  most  pitiful  mortification  in  con- 
sequence of  some  outburst  of  passion.  Let  the 
reader  feel  assured  it  pays  well,  under  all  great 
emotions,  to  say  not  a  word.  It  saves  conscience, 
saves  dignity,  saves  self-respect. 

Our  own  country  is  the  most  picturesque  and 
grand  in  the  world ;  and  that  the  summers  of  our 
youth,  and  men  and  women  of  leisure  and  means, 
and  of  our  invalids,  are  spent  in  the  enervating  de- 
baucheries of  fashionable  places  of  resort,  instead 
of  explorations,  is  discreditable  to  our  intelligence 
as  a  people,  and  is  a  degradation"  to  our  morals  and 
physical  nature  as  individuals. 

True  strength,  real  recuperation,  comes  from 
the  digestion  of  nutritious  food,  and  can  come 
from  DO  other  source. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  81 

Instead  of  determining  what  you  would  like  your 
son  to  be,  seek  to  ascertain  what  he  is  capable  of 
being;  what  he  is  certainly  competent  for.  In 
short,  seek  not  for  your  child  the  post  he  can  get, 
but  the  post  he  can  fill ;  for  it  is  better  to  be  an 
honor  to  the  hod  than  a  disgrace  to  the  crown  — 
better  be  an  accomplished  mechanic  than  a  con- 
temptible king. 

Reader,  remember  that  kind  acts  pay ;  the  in- 
fluence of  each  for  good  drifts  over  the  sea  of  time, 
and  will  drift  till  time  shall  be  no  more.  Go  forth- 
with, then,  "  while  the  day  lasts,"  and  perform  as 
many  as  you  can. 

Whose  children  people  our  penitentiaries?  They 
are  those  of  parents  who  were  too  indulgent,  or 
too  proud,  or  too  indifferent  to  bring  up  their 
children  to  some  honest  trade.  Of  the  hundreds 
crushed  and  blasted  creatures  in  the  penitentiary, 
whose  days  are  spent  in  boo'tless  and  ignominious 
toil,  and  whose  narrow  night-dungeon  is  the  mute 
witness  of  demoniac  defiance  or  unavailing  re- 
morse ;  of  vain  curses,  fierce  and  deep ;  or  of  feed- 
ing on  the  fires  of  sharp-pointed  memories,  two 
thirds  never  knew  a  trade,  five  sixths  are  unable 
to  read  or  write.  How  much  of  truth  is  there  in 
Franklin's  reputed  saying,  "  He  who  fails  to  teach 
his  child  a  trade,  teaches  him  to  become  a  scoun- 
drel." 

6 


82  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

There  is  a  general  saying,  that  cold  water  "  rota 
the  hair."  The  statement  is  of  itself  absurd.  The 
hair  is  rotted  by  the  filth  whicli  is  allowed  to  cake 
upon  the  scalp  by  virtue  of  the  grease,  natural  and 
artificial,  gathering  dust  of  every  description,  and 
making  a  composition,  the  very  thouglit  of  which 
is  nauseating. 

Every  mother  who  would  pride  herself  in  having 
her  daugliter  possess  a  beautiful  head  of  hair,  lux- 
urious, long,  and  silken  at  sweet  nineteen,  should 
forbid  any  application  to  the  hair,  except  pure 
water  as  above,  keeping  it  short,  and  allowing  it 
to  lie  naturally  on  the  forehead. 

A  HEARTY  laugh  is  known,  the  world  over,  to  be 
a  health  promoter ;  it  elevates  the  spirits,  enlivens 
the  circulation,  and  is  marvellously  contagious  in  a 
good  sense. 

Men  who  have  half  a  dozen  irons  in  the  fire  are 
not  tlie  ones  to  go  crazy.  It  is  the  man  of  volun- 
tary or  compelled  leisure  who  mopes,  and  pines, 
and  thinks  himself  into  the  mad-house  or  the  grave. 
Motion  is  all  Nature's  law.  Action  is  man's  sal- 
vation, physical  and  mental.  And  yet  nine  out  of 
ten  are  wistfully  looking  forward  to  the  coveted 
hour  when  they  shall  have  leisure  to  do  nothing, 
or  something,  only  if  they  feel  like  it  —  the  very 
siren  that  has  lured  to  death  many  a  "  successful  " 
man. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  83 

My  experience  is,  throat  ail  is  not  to  bo  radically 
and  permanently  cured  in  any  case,  except  by 
rectifying  first,  and  then  building  up  the  general 
health  of  the  system,  and  that  requires  time,  de- 
termination, and  systematic  habits  of  rational  life. 

A  MAN  had  better  lose  a  dinner,  better  sacrifice 
the  earnings  of  a  day,  than  repress  the  call  of 
nature. 

A  GENTLEMAN  of  true  bcnovolence  has  succeeded 
in  accumulating  a  large  fortune  within  a  half-cen- 
tury's time,  beginning  at  the  bottom  round  of  the 
ladder,  by  following  two  things :  minding  his  own 
business,  and  doing  good  to  others.  How  many 
there  are  who  would  do  well  to  learn  that  trade  I 
It  is  simple,  useful,  and  ought  not  to  be  hard  to 
learn. 

Humanitarians  I  you  are  on  the  wrong  track 
with  your  soup-shops  and  your  alms-houses.  You 
pay  a  premium  on  loafering,  and  men  soon  get  to 
like  it ;  you  buy  away  their  self-respect,  and  the 
feeling  of  independence,  which  makes  all  the  dif- 
ference between  a  man  and  a  human  thing,  and  all 
the  while  taking  the  flattering  unction  to  your 
souls  you  are  doing  God  service.  Help  your  fel- 
low-mortal to  help  himself,  and  be  a  man,  not  a 
loafer,  and  angels  will  smile. 

One  bushel  of  white  beans  will  feed  more  labor- 
ing men  than  eight  bushels  of  potatoes. 


84  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

No  man  who  values  his  own  health  and  life,  and 
those  of  his  family,  should  pay  attention  to  any 
newspaper  recipe  of  a  medicinal  character.  The 
door  should  be  shut  against  all  family  newspapers 
which  habitually  insert  such  things,  because  mainly 
there  are  various  medicines  wliicli  do  a  striking 
good  when  taken  once  or  twice,  but  which  cause 
poisonous  effects  if  taken  four  or  five  times  or  days 
in  succession. 

Let  parents,  who  would  avoid  an  old  age  of 
agony,  in  connection  with  harshness,  injustice,  and 
even  cruelty  to  their  children,  remember  never  to 
punish  or  even  threaten  a  child  under  the  influ- 
ence of  a  passionate  state  of  the  mind,  because  the 
morrow  may  bring  death,  and  no  compensation  can 
be  ever  made. 

Many  persons  precipitate  themselves  into  the 
grave  by  attempting  to  bravado  an  ailment ;  to  be 
up  and  about  in  defiance  of  it.  If  anything  at  all 
is  the  matter  with  a  man  which  is  really  disquiet- 
ing, he  should  at  least  have  as  much  sense  as  a 
pig,  and  go  and  lie  down ;  pigs  are  not  such  fools 
as  to  move  about  in  pain. 

The  father  moulds  the  head,  the  mother  the 
heart;  the  father  appeals  to  the  understanding, 
the  mother  to  the  afi'ections ;  the  father  prepares 
for  time,  the  mother  for  eternity.  Happy  the 
children  who  heed  the  wise  teachings  of  both. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  85 

He  only  is  truly  wise  who  lays  himself  out  to 
work  till  life's  latest  hour,  and  that  is  the  man 
who  will  live  the  longest,  and  will  live  to  most 
purpose. 

It  is  a  very  poor  excuse  for  a  man  to  say  that  he 
cannot  pay  a  debt;  the  declaration  becomes  in- 
sulting to  the  creditor,  when  that  inability  is  the 
result  of  improvidence,  or  actual  extravagance. 

Let  the  family  table  be  always  a  meeting-place 
of  pleasantness,  affection,  and  peace,  and  for  the 
exhibition  of  all  the  sweeter  feelings  of  domestic 
hfe. 

Shut  your  mouth  in  going  from  a  cold  to  a  hot 
atmosphere,  as  well  as  the  reverse ;  this  simple  op- 
eration brings  the  temperature  of  either  a  cold  or 
hot  air  to  the  natural  standard  before  it  reaches 
the  lungs,  by  making  it  take  the  circuit  of  the 
head ;  whereas,  if  the  mouth  is  kept  open,  it  dashes 
down  upon  the  lungs  like  a  shock.  Whether  asleep 
or  awake,  we  should  accustom  ourselves  to  keep 
the  mouth  shut;  the  advantage  in  our  sleeping 
hours  is,  that  we  do  not  snore,  we  don't  have  the 
nightmare;  flies, bugs,  and  spiders  don't  crawl  down 
the  throat,  and  we  don't  toll  tales  in  our  dreams; 
the  benefits  in  the  daytime  are,  that  it  induces  a 
more  healthful,  deep,  full,  and  free  action  of  the 
lungs,  prevents  innumerable  chills  and  colds,  and 
saves  many  a  domestic  sorrow. 


86  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Young  woman,  if  a  rich  young  man  asks  you  to 
marry  him,  and  has  no  occupation,  or  trade,  or  call- 
ing by  which  he  could  make  a  living  if  he  were 
thrown  on  his  own  resources,  you  may  give  him 
your  respect,  but  "  give  him  the  mitten." 

If  you  are  consumptive,  and  want  to  get  well,  go 
in  for  beef  and  out-door  air,  and  do  not  be  deluded 
into  the  grave  by  advertisements  and  unreliable 
certificates. 

Many  persons  bring  on  life-long  dyspepsias  by 
the  mere  habit  of  drinking  several  glasses  of  cold 
water  at  their  meals ;  an  equal  amount  of  hot  drink 
would  be  greatly  more  advantageous,  but  half  a 
pint  of  any  fluid  at  a  single  meal  is  abundant  for  all 
healthful  purposes. 

Let  it  be  fully  and  plainly  understood  by  all,  that 
human  health  can  never  be  maintained  by  the  ha- 
bitual internal  use  of  anything  else  than  plain, 
nourishing  food,  and  -such  drinks  as  satisfy  the 
thirst  in  a  natural  way.  In  other  words,  tlie  habit- 
ual use  of  anytliing,  water  excepted,  which  does 
not  contain  wholesome  nutriment,  tends,  in  all 
cases  and  under  all  circumstances,  to  destroy  both 
health  and  life. 

Wealthy  parents,  if  you  truly  love  your  chil 
dren,  live  in  that  style  which  you  can  enable  each 
one  of  them  to  sustain. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  87 

Let  all  learn,  what  the  commonest  humanity  dic- 
tates, to  speak  no  word,  write  no  line,  do  no  deed 
which  would  wound  the  feelings  of  any  human 
creature,  unless  under  a  sense  of  duty,  and  even 
then  let  it  be  wisely  and  long  considered. 

Mad  dogs  and  turtles  are  not  the  only  snapping 
animals  in  the  world. 

Any  great  emotion  of  passion  or  pleasure,  soon 
after  eating,  causes  death  ;  hence,  no  highly  excit- 
ing or  momentous  news  should  be  communicated, 
even  to  the  healthiest,  let  alone  the  sick  and  the 
feeble,  immediately  after  a  full  repast, 

A  GOOD  heart  grows  mellow  as  it  approaches  the 
grave.  Old  clergymen  grow  forbearing  as  they 
near  heaven.  We  contend,  if  they  could  start 
with  the  largest  share  of  this,  many  hearts  would 
be  won  to  religion  that  are  never  won  at  all. 
Harshness  wrecks,  and  wins  not  the  inquiring 
soul. 

Never  pinch  oflf  the  leaves  to  hasten  the  ripen- 
ing of  the  fruit.  Nature  has  placed  them  there  to 
iacilitate  that  ripening  in  her  own  way. 

To  live  in  comfort  and  in  abundance  in  our  own 
homes  should  be  the  source  of  constant  and  heart- 
felt thanksgiving;  but  to  have  the  means  and  the 
heart  to  happily  the  less  fortunate  of  our  kind 
merits  a  higher  and  a  purer  gratitude. 


88  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

If  you  want  a  child  to  take  au  interest  in  a  pa. 
per,  let  it  be  his  paper,  sent  to  his  address.  In  a 
reasonable  time  he  will  get  to  look  for  its  coming, 
and  feel  the  want  of  it,  if  it  does  not  arrive  at  the 
usual  time.  Soon  it  will  be  a  kind  of  necessity, 
and  rather  than  be  without  it  he  becomes  willing 
to  make  sacrifices  and  self-denials  for  the  sake  of 
saving  any  stray  dlrae  or  half  dime  which  may 
happen  to  come  into  his  possession. 

As  men  have  lived  in  perfect  health  without 
alcohol,  the  use  of  alcohol  cannot  add  to  that  health, 
because  a  man  cannot  be  bettor  than  well. 

Our  sons  are  taught  how  to  make  money,  and 
our  daughters  how  to  attract  attention ;  but  little 
if  anything  is  done  towards  imparting  to  them 
instruction  which  would  enable  them  to  pre- 
serve and  maintain  unexceptionable  health,  without 
which  the  admiration  of  courts  is  a  bare  endur- 
ance, and  the  glitter  of  costliest  gems  as  valueless 
as  the  dust  of  the  street. 

The  ravage  of  war,  as  to  human  life,  is  exagger- 
ated in  almost  all  minds,  and  is  never  so  great  as  it 
seems  to  be.  Many  of  the  soldiers  who  sicken  and 
die  in  hospitals  would  have  sickened  and  died  at 
home ;  while  the  proportion  of  all  who  die  from 
wounds  is  astonishingly  small,  and  some  of  these 
would  have  perished  by  accident  had  they  re- 
mained at  home. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  89 

Parents,  have  a  ceaseless  eye  to  what  your 
younger  children  read. 

Farmers'  wives  lose  health  and  life  every  year 
ill  Olio  of"  two  ways :  by  busying  themselves  in  a 
warm  kitchen  until  weary,  and  then  throwing 
themselves  on  a  bed  or  sofa  without  covering,  and 
perhaps  in  a  room  without  fire,  or  by  removing  the 
outer  cluthJng,  and  [mrhaps  changing  the  dress  for 
a  more  common  one,  as  soon  as  they  enter  the 
house  after  walking  or  working.  The  rule  should 
be  invariable  to  go  at  once  to  a  warm  room,  and 
keep  on  all  the  clothing,  at  least  lor  five  or  ten 
minutes,  until  tlie  forehead  is  perfectly  dry.  In 
all  weathers,  if  you  havo  to  walk  and  ride  on  any 
occasion,  do  the  riding  first. 

A  MAN  who  is  willing  to  be  helped  out  of  the 
mire,  and  then  is  unwilling  to  help  others,  is  no 
man  at  all  —  he  is  a  thing. 

Incessant  thinking  on  any  one  subject  tends  to 
craze  the  brain ;  and  it  does  unhinge  the  intellect 
of  multitudes,  as  witness  the  fate  of  men  of  "one 
idea;"  of  inventors,  of  inveterate  students  of 
prophecy,  of  those  who  abandon  themselves  to 
thinking  of  the  loved  and  lost,  of  the  victims  of 
remorse  or  mortified  pride,  or  of  those  who  feed 
on  sharp-pointed  memories. 

If  your  pants  need  a  patch,  send  for  a  tailor ; 
if  your  body  is  out  of  order,  consult  a  physician. 


90  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Let  every  man  be  diligent,  and  abide  his  time  in 
patience,  remembering  that  the  race  is  not  com- 
monly, in  practical  life,  to  the  swift,  nor  the  battle 
to  the  strong,  and  that  ultimate  and  permanent 
success  is  the  pretty  sure  reward  of  him  who  haa 
patience,  diligence,  and  a  great  heart. 

It  is  worth  the  efifort  of  a  lifetime  to  bo  able  to 
die  well,  to  die  at  a  good  old  age,  in  peace  with  all 
mankind,  and  in  a  well-grounded  faith  of  an  im- 
mortal life  beyond. 

Steady  force  of  character,  with  determination, 
are  of  more  value  towards  insuring  longevity  than 
a  good  constitution.  Men  of  "  purpose  "  can  live 
down  disease,  can  live  above  it,  as  did  the  hero  of 
Macaulay's  History  of  England,  William  the  Con- 
queror, who  was  a  wheezing  asthmatic  all  his  life, 
and  he  died  at  last  by  being  thrown  from  his  horse. 

The  first  and  immediate  aim  of  the  good  and 
great  physician,  is  to  restore  his  patient  to  health 
in  the  shortest  time,  with  the  smallest  amount  of 
medicine,  and  with  the  least  discomfort  practic- 
able ;  when  this  is  accomplished,  he  has  a  more 
elevated  ambition;  an  object  nobler  and  still  more 
humane  presses  upon  his  attention  —  the  prevention 
of  all  disease. 

Keeping  meats  until  they  are  about  "  to  turn  " 
makes  them  tender  to  eat,  but  they  are  harder  to 
digest  than  fresh  meat. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  91 

If  a  child  wakes  up  in  the  morning,  and  calls 
for  a  drink  of  water  the  first  thing,  such  child  is 
perfectly  certain  to  be  sick  before  noon.  The 
course  to  be  pursued  is,  to  keep  him  in  bed,  and 
by  warm  drinks  promote  perspiration,  eating  noth- 
ing whatever  until  the  afternoon,  when  he  may 
amuse  himself  by  nibbling  at  some  cold,  dry 
bread,  and  the  next  day  he  will  be  about  again. 
Otherwise,  a  breakfast  will  be  eaten,  fever  comes 
on,  vomiting,  and  several  days'  illness. 

The  best  and  safest  tooth  wash  in  the  world  is 
tepid  water.  There  is  not  a  tooth  powder  in  ex- 
istence, nor  a  tooth  wash,  that  does  not  inflict  a 
physical  injury  to  the  teeth,  and  promote  their 
decay.  Each  dentist  has  a  powder  of  his  own, 
which  he  sells  at  a  thousand  per  cent,  profit,  which 
he  may  honestly  imagine  will  do  a  positive  good, 
witiiout  any  injury  whatever.  But  he  is  mistaken. 
The  teeth  were  never  intended  to  be  pearly  white. 
Every  intelligent  dentist  knows  tliat  the  wliiter 
the  teeth  are,  the  sooner  and  the  more  certainly 
they  will  decay.  He  also  knows  that  those  teeth 
are  the  soundest,  last  the  longest,  and  are  the 
most  useful,  which  have  a  yellowish  tint.  Then 
why  provide  powders  to  take  off  this  yellowish 
surface  ? 

Whiskey  cures  a  great  many  ailments,  infallibly, 
by  killing  the  patient. 


92  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

A  TRUE  soldier  is  considered  one  of  the  highest 
types  of  a  man.  But  that  officer  merits  not  the 
name,  or  the  title  he  bears,  who  does  not  make  the 
comfort  and  health  of  his  men  a  subject  of  un- 
ceasing thought,  and  of  the  most  indefatigable 
effort. 

The  motto  of  most  all  the  quacks  of  the  present 
day,  for  the  cure  of  all  diseases,  is.  Physic  1 
Physic!  Physic!  Purgative  medicines  are  good 
in  their  proper  place ;  but  to  purge  for  every- 
thing, is  absolutely  absurd.  Therefore  all  such 
purgative  nostrums,  in  the  form  either  of  pills, 
bitters,  mineral  waters,  or  anything  else,  should 
be  eschewed  as  the  cholera. 

As  we  grow  older,  let  us  practise  benevolence 
more,  cultivate  geniality,  social  intercourse,  and  a 
generous  reciprocity  of  all  the  sweet  courtesies 
of  social  and  domestic  life,  and  then  tears  and 
flowers  will  be  mingled  at  our  grave,  and  the 
memory  of  us  will  be  blessed. 

In  every  hundred  bushels  of  wheat,  more  than 
a  thousand  pounds  of  valuable  nutriment  is  lost  to 
human  use,  by  the  present  method  of  grinding 
wheat  into  flour,  and  preparing  it  for  the  table. 

Fools,  lunarians,  the  weak-minded,  and  the  igno 
rant  are  irascible,  impatient,  and  of  ungovernable 
temper.  Great  hearts  and  wise  are  calm,  for- 
giving, and  f;ereno. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  93 

To  go  to  Minnesota  after  the  first  of  November, 
to  remain  until  spring,  as  a  means  of  benefiting  a 
person  who  is  really  in  consumption,  is  idiotic. 

Reader,  let  your  piety  be  prompted  by  the  ha- 
bitual contemplation  of  the  goodness  of  God,  in 
the  sunshine  of  health  and  prosperity,  and  a  calm 
life;  then,  should  storms  threaten,  and  adversity 
come,  and  sickness  waste  the  health  away,  you 
can  look  it  all  in  the  face  fearlessly,  and  feel,  as 
the  last  lifestrings  are  breaking,  "  I  know  that  my 
Redeemer  liveth ; "  and  at  the  first  blast  of  the 
trumpet  which  wakes  the  world  to  judgment,  you 
will  find  yourself  robed  in  spotless  purity,  among 
the  shining  ones. 

Not  a  day  passes  in  which  a  suicide  may  not  be 
directly  traced  to  want  of  success  in  life ;  to  the 
false  moralities  inculcated  by  wicked  or  ignorant 
writers ;  to  the  failure  of  parents  in  obtaining  a 
proper  influence  over  their  children;  to  unre- 
strained appetites  and  passions  ;  and  to  the  inabil- 
ity of  multitudes  "to  get  along  in  the  world" 
prosperously,  for  want  of  thoroughness  of  prep- 
aration for  their  calling  or  station  in  life. 

Why  are  not  the  Arabs,  and  the  Indians,  and 
the  dwellers  in  tents,  the  victims  of  paralysis, 
gout,  rheumatism,  dyspepsia,  and  consumption  ? 
The  main  reason  is,  they  live  in  the  open  air,  and 
their  limbs  are  strengthened  by  exercise. 


94  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Families  should  everywhere  be  on  their  guard 
against  galvanized  zinc  iron  water  pipes,  for  drink- 
ing or  cooking  purposes. 

The  best  specific  for  a  horse  thief  is  a  hempen 
halter.  Never,  since  the  world  began,  has  it  ever 
been  found  necessary  to  repeat  the  dose. 

Let  him  who  stammers,  stamp  his  foot  on  the 
ground  at  the  same  time  that  he  utters  each  syl- 
lable, and  stammering  is  impossible. 

This  one  idea,  of  keeping  the  pores  of  the  skin 
steadily  open,  by  means  of  habitual  moderate  ex- 
ercise and  strict  personal  cleanliness,  would,  if 
generally  practised,  contribute  more  to  human 
happiness  than  tons  of  physic  or  millions  of 
money. 

It  is  a  broad  truth  among  men,  that  a  gentl©^ 
man,  among  gentlemen,  is  the  last  one  to  imagine 
a  dishonorable  act  on  the  part  of  his  compeers: 
but  even  if  imagined,  he  would  sooner  make  the 
largest  sacrifices  than  frame  his  suspicions  into 
words. 

No  man  of  reflection  can  help  respecting  the 
industrious  mechanic,  any  more  than  he  can  help 
looking  with  contemptuousness  on  the  well-dressed 
loafer,  or  the  aristocratic  spendthrift,  who  would 
not  care  to  be  seen  talking  to  the  toil-worn  work- 
man. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  95 

Man  is  styled  an  omnivorous  animal  —  an  ani- 
mal eating  everything.  No  created  animal  can 
eat  and  drink,  without  discomfort,  half  the  articles 
consumed  by  man.  I  know  very  well  that  men 
die  before  their  da3'^s  are  half  numbered,  in  conse- 
quence of  errors  in  eating  and  drinking ;  but 
these  disastrous  results  do  not  arise  from  the  qual- 
ity of  man's  aliment,  but  from  its  quantity.  It  is 
the  quantity  which  prematurely  kills  millions.  A 
sensible  man  may  eat  almost  any  thing  with  im- 
punity ;  a  simpleton,  nothing.  The  former  eats 
like  a  philosopher,  the  latter  like  a  pig ;  the  for- 
mer eats  as  much  as  he  wants,  the  latter  eats  more 
than  he  wants. 

In  several  instances  persons  have  applied  to  me 
who  had  been  advised  to  take  brandy  freely  for  a 
throat  affection.  None  but  an  ignorant  man  or  a 
drunkard  would  give  such  advice.  It  is  warranted 
by  no  one  principle  in  medicine,  reason,  or  com- 
mon sense. 

The  safest  place  on  a  rail-car  is  the  inside,  about 
the  centre  of  the  car,  if  there  be  no  stove  there, 
and  on  the  end  of  the  seat  next  to  the  aisle. 

Persons  often  make  the  inquiry,  when  in  a 
decline,  "  Will  it  hurt  me  to  go  out  of  doors  ?  "  Our 
almost  universal  reply  is,  "  No  !  it  will  do  you  good. 
Go  out,  rain  or  shine ;  if  it  is  raining,  have  an  um- 
brella, and  let  it  rain  on." 


96  DR.    HALL'S  MAXIMS. 

When  the  scalp  is  in  any  part  bare  of  hair,  and 
shiny,  or  glistening,  that  is  organic  baldness,  and 
there  is  no  remedy.  If  there  is  not  that  shining, 
gli^^tening  appearance,  but  a  multitude  of  very 
small  hairs,  causing  a  "  furziness  "  over  the  scalp, 
that  is  "  functional "  baldness ;  and  two  things  are 
to  be  done.  Keep  the  scalp  clean  with  soap-suds  — 
that  is  a  "  balm  of  a  thousand  flowers,"  flavored ; 
and  more  specially,  and  principally,  seek  to  im- 
prove your  general  health,  by  eating  plain,  sub- 
stantial food,  at  three  regular  times  a  day,  and  by 
spending  three  or  four  hours,  between  meals,  in 
moderate  exercise  in  the  open  air,  in  some  en- 
grossing employment. 

Use  fruits  that  are  ripe,  fresh,  perfect,  raw. 
They  should  be  used  in  their  natural  state,  with- 
out sugar,  cream,  milk,  or  any  other  item  of  food 
or  drink. 

Our  legitimate  scope  is  almost  boundless:  for 
whatever  begets  pleasurable  and  harmless  feelings, 
promotes  health  ;  and  whatever  induces  disagreea- 
ble sensations,  engenders  disease. 

I  TRUST  no  reader  will  attempt  to  live  on  com- 
mon allowance,  on  his  own  responsibility ;  he 
should  cousult  with  his  family  physician,  for  age, 
sex,  condition  in  life,  occupation,  materially  modify 
the  amount  of  food  requisite  for  the  wants  of  the 
system. 


DB.  hall's  MAxma.  97 

We  consider  it  a  radical  defect  in  our  schools, 
that  children  are  made  to  study  branches  which 
are  above  their  comprehension,  allied  to  an  error, 
not  less  mischievous,  of  being  sent  to  school  too 
early. 

It  is  not  true  that  sugar  and  candies  are  of 
themselves  injurious  to  the  teetli  or  the  health  of 
those  who  use  them ;  so  far  from  it,  they  are  less 
injurious  than  any  of  the  ordinary  forms  of  food 
when  employed  in  moderation. 

Getting  out  of  a  warm  bed  and  going  to  an  open 
door  or  window,  has  been  the  death  of  multitudes. 

Let  families  look  well  into  the  quality  of  the 
milk  which  is  supplied  to  them.  The  brightest 
and  most  tidy-looking  milk  carts  are  often  as  sug- 
gestive as  the  "  whitened  sepulchres "  of  Scrip- 
ture story. 

An  observer  of  mice  in  his  youth,  may  become 
an  observer  of  men  in  maturity.  The  observation 
of  little  things  makes  the  great  man. 

Bed-cdrtains  are  unhealthy,  because  they  con- 
fine the  air  around  us  while  we  sleep ;  a  canary 
bird  will  die  in  a  night  suspended  in  that  sit- 
uation. 

Pains  about  the  lungs  and  heart,  off  and  on,  for 
weeks  and  mouths,  generally  indicate  the  absence 
of  seriously  critical  diseases. 
7 


98  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Strive,  with  all  the  energy  God  hath  given  yon, 
to  be  healthy,  to  be  rdigioics,  to  be  rich.  The  more 
healthy  you  are,  the  more  truly  and  highly  reli 
gious  you  can  be ;  and  the  richer  you  are,  the 
more  can  you  do  towards  placing  the  same  glo- 
rious religion  within  reach,  at  least,  of  the  perishing 
myriads  of  earth's  poor. 

Memory,  like  every  other  faculty,  is  cuitivatable. 
It  is  improved  by  exercise,  and,  like  a  good  friend, 
tiie  more  we  trust  it,  the  better  will  it  serve  us. 

No  medicine  or  drug,  or  anything  to  be  swal- 
lowed or  inhaled,  has  ever  yet  been  found  which 
can  possibly  have  any  direct,  radical,  efficient 
agency  in  permanently  arresting  even  the  prog- 
ress of  Consumption.  Many  such  have  been  pro- 
posed with  great  confidence,  while  all  have,  one  by 
one,  gone  out  of  notice,  which  could  not  have  been 
the  case  had  they  been  efficient.  The  only  means 
are  to  secure  a  vigorous  digestion,  and  to  bring 
back  the  full  breathing  of  the  lungs;  both  of  which 
are  possible. 

Anxiety,  and  privation,  and  want  hurry  multi- 
tiulos  of  poor  every  year  to  a  premature  grave ; 
but  thrift  and  J3ible  religion  go  together  the  world 
oveT ;  and  its  principles,  pure  and  unadulterated  by 
human  traditions,  and  human  expositions,  and  com- 
mentaries, are  the  only  panacea  for  the  cure  of 
disease,  and  want,  and  crime. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  99 

It  is  very  unsafe  to  lessen  the  amount  of  cloth- 
ing sooner  than  the  first  of  May,  and  then  not  in 
quality,  but  in  less  thickness  of  the  same  mate- 
rial ;  from  yarn  socks  to  worsted ;  from  a  thick, 
knitted  flannel  shirt  to  one  of  common  woollen  flan- 
nel; then,  about  the  first  of  June,  to  a  gauze  flannel; 
if  this  is  oppressive  to  some,  then  employ  canton 
flannel.  But  it  is  certainly  a  great  mistake  for  any- 
body to  wear  anything  else  next  the  skin,  even  in 
the  hottest  summer  weather,  than  woollen  flannel. 

Habits  of  regularity,  temperance,  cleanlinesSj 
and  exercise  become  a  second  nature  in  the  course 
of  years;  their  performance  a  pleasure,  their  in- 
fraction a  discomfort ;  while  the  use  of  beverages 
of  ale,  beer,  cordials,  cider,  and  other  drinks  con- 
taining alcohol,  or  the  employment  of  tobacco 
in  chewing,  smoking,  or  snuflSng,  and  the  over- 
indulgence of  the  propensities,  becomes  a  slavery, 
an  iron  despotism,  which  in  the  end  debases  the 
heart,  undermines  the  health,  and  destroys  life, 
making  a  miserable  wreck  of  soul,  body,  and  estate 
together. 

If  a  man  is  not  consumptive,  and  is  plainly  told 
so,  such  a  burden  is  sometimes  taken  from  liis 
mind  that  a  new  life  is  infused  into  him;  he  rises 
above  the  depressions  which  were  crushing  him 
into  the  grave,  throws  off  disease,  and  goes  forth 
in  a  few  days  a  new  being  and  a  well  man. 


100  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

However  healthy  a  man  may  be,  anxiety  for  to- 
morrow's bread  will  soon  undermine  the  strongest 
constitution;  hence  the  French  returns  officially 
announce  that  the  well-to-do  average  eleven  years 
longer  life  than  those  who  live  by  their  daily  labor. 
If  a  man  is  healthy  and  well-to-do,  and  is  not  busy  in 
his  calling,  he  will  seldom  fail  to  become  dyspeptic, 
intemperate,  or  restless,  and  die  prematurely. 
Hence,  to  have  a  life  of  sunshine,  a  man  must 
live  healthfully,  must  have  a  reasonably  profitable 
calling,  and  must  be  busy  and  buoyant  in  the  pros- 
ecution of  it. 

Reader,  you  will  be  sick  one  day ;  it  may  be  a 
long  sickness ;  you  may  be  far  from  home,  far  from 
friends,  far  from  medical  aid.  Let  me  tell  you 
there  is  a  "  balm  "  in  the  Bible  ;  a  medicament,  a 
cordial,  of  a  nature  so  searching,  of  a  power  so  all- 
pervading,  that  there  is  "no  sorrow  which  it  can- 
not heal,"  no  suffering  which  it  cannot  soothe,  no 
pain  which  it  cannot  mitigate. 

Continued  excitement  is  disease. 

Bearing  about  in  one's  heart  the  sweet  memo- 
ries of  a  mothers  care,  and  affection,  and  fidelity, 
often  has  a  resistless  power,  for  many  a  year  alter 
that  dear  mother  has  found  her  resting-place  in 
heaven,  to  restrain  the  wayward  and  the  unsettled 
from  rushing  into  the  ways  of  wicked  and  aban- 
doned men. 


DR.    HALL'S  MAXIMS.  101 

Heat  rarefies  all  noxious  gases  and  odors,  and 
sends  them  to  the  clouds ;  these  are  most  perni- 
cious at  sunrise  and  sunset ;  hence  building  fires  in 
the  family  sitting-room  at  those  hours,  will,  other 
things  being  equal,  exempt  families  from  epidem- 
ics, chills,  and  fevers,  and  perhaps  even  cholera 
itself. 

Sickness  is  sometimes  imaginary,  but  in  such  cases 
it  does  no  good  to  deride  or  to  scold ;  so  it  i^  some- 
times with  what  is  called  nervousness, — it  is  useless 
to  make  light  of  it ;  the  feeling  of  sufi'ering  is  the 
same  as  if  it  were  real.  In  such  cases  sympathy  is 
oftentimes  a  more  efficient  remedy  than  derision  or 
impatient  epithet.  "  Bear  ye  one  another's  bur- 
dens," is  a  moral  medicamentum  of  great  efficacy. 

No  sickly  person  can  honorably  marry  another 
in  good  health,  without  previously  making  a  fair 
statement  of  the  case.  And  even  then,  if  a  mar- 
riage takes  place,  a  crime  has  been  committed 
against  the  community  and  against  unborn  inno- 
cents But  when  both  the  parties  are  sickly  it  is 
wholly  inexcusable,  and  ought  to  be  frowned  upon 
by  every  intelligent  community,  howover  satisfac- 
tory the  pecuniary  condition  of  the  parties.  They 
may  be  able  to  support  themselves,  but  they  can 
give  no  guarantee  that  their  children,  diseased  in 
body  and  feeble  in  mind,  shall  not  be  a  public  charge 
at  the  hospital,  the  poorhouse,  or  an  insane  asylum. 


102  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

We  believe  in  fun  more  than  physic,  hence  we 
"  still  live,"  and  lively  as  a  cricket,  too  1 

Many  a  mother  feels  fretted,  jaded,  and  worn 
out  with  the  cares  of  housekeeping,  and  is  almost 
sick.  But  at  the  moment  a  welcome  visitor  comes 
in,  full  of  life,  cordiality,  and  cheeriness,  in  less 
than  five  minutes  that  mother  is  a  difi'ereut  woman ; 
the  sky  has  cleared ;  the  face  is  lighted  up  with 
smiles ;  and  she  feels  as  well  as  she  ever  did  in  her 
life.  Her  discouragement,  her  almost  sickness,  was 
not  "  in  the  mind,"  it  was  a  reality,  but  the  excite- 
ment of  conversation  drove  out  the  wearying  blood, 
which  was  oppressing  the  heart,  and  made  it  fairly 
tingle  to  the  finger-points.  Ladies,  when  you  go 
a  visiting,  carry  smiles  and  gladness,  and  a  joyous 
nature  and  a  kind  heart  with  you,  and  you  will  do 
more  good  than  a  dozen  doctors. 

Some  persons  attempt  to  "  harden  their  constitu- 
tions "  by  exposing  themselves  to  the  causes  which 
induced  their  sufferings ;  as  if  they  could,  by  so 
doing,  get  accustomed  to  the  exposure,  and  ever 
thereafter  endure  it  with  impunity.  A  good  con- 
stitution, like  a  good  garment,  lasts  the  longer  by 
its  being  taken  care  of. 

Everybody  knows  that  to  be  cooped  up  in  a  hot 
room  all  winter,  is  enough  to  kill  a  well  man,  and 
certainly  it  cannot  restore  to  health  a  man  who  is 
already  half  dead  with  consumption. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  103 

A  CONSUMPTIVE  man  is  one  vvlio  luis  already  lost 
the  use  of  a  part  of  his  lungs  —  the  more  need, 
then,  is  there  that  the  air  which  he  does  consume 
fihould  bo  the  purest  possible. 

Many  a  cold,  cough,  and  consumption  are  excited 
into  action  by  pulling  off  the  hat  or  overcoat  as  to 
men,  and  the  bonnet  and  shawl  as  to  women,  im- 
mediately on  entering  the  house  in  winter,  after  a 
walk.  An  interval  of  at  least  five  or  ten  minutes 
should  be  allowed ;  for  however  warm  or  "  close  " 
the  apartment  may  appear  on  first  entering,  it  will 
seem  much  less  so  at  the  end  of  five  minutes,  if  the 
outer  garments  remain  as  they  were  before  enter- 
ing. Any  one  who  judiciously  uses  this  observa- 
tion, will  find  a  multifold  reward  in  the  course  of  a 
lifetime. 

Restrain  all  base  passions ;  keep  all  the  appetites 
in  rational  control ;  harbor  no  malice ;  cherish  no 
revenges ;  brood  not  over  circumstances  connected 
with  wounded  feelings :  if  wealth  takes  wings,  go 
lovingly  and  trustingly  to  the  great  Father  of  all  to 
"  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ; "  and  if  fair- 
weather  friends  forsake,  cling  the  more  to  Him  who 
sticketh  closer  than  a  brother ;  looking  hopefully  at 
the  same  tira^,  and  laboring  diligently  in  good-doing 
to  others,  for  the  reward  which  awaits  the  faithful 
oeyond  the  gloom  of  the  grave.  So  doing  you  will 
never  bemoan  a  "  Lost  Mind ! " 


104  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

JBoiLS  are  the  result  of  impure  blood,  made  so  by 
imperfect  digestion ;  or  an  excess  of  bile,  owing  to 
a  torpid  liver  or  the  want  of  sufficient  out-of-do<jr 
exercise.  They  are  not  a  sign  of  health,  but  that 
nature  is  canying  on  a  healthful  process. 

The  longer  an  experienced  physician  lives,  the 
more  value  he  places  on  medicine  as  an  agent  for 
the  removal  of  disease ;  at  the  same  time  the  less 
and  less  is  he  inclined  to  give  medicine  except  in 
urgent  cases,  preferring  to  let  Nature  put  forth  her 
energies  to  throw  off  the  disease  while  he  stands 
by  and  watches ;  and  if  she  is  about  to  fail,  then  he 
helps  at  the  nick  of  time  by  the  faithful  drug,  know- 
ing that  there  are  cases  where  neither  nature  nor 
medicine  could  cure  separately,  but  when  their 
united  power  at  the  critical  juncture  is  all-efficient 
to  save  a  loved  one  from  a  premature  and  unneces- 
sary grave.  Blessings  be  upon  every  experienced, 
observant,  and  faithful  physician  1  for  he  deserves, 
everywhere,  the  confidence,  the  respect,  and  the 
warm  attachment  of  every  well-informed  mind. 

Nine  tenths  of  human  sorrows  arise  from  having 
a  will  different  from  that  of  the  Almighty. 

Children  will  always  be  more  tractable,  and  wiU 
be  much  more  easily  withdrawn  from  undesirable 
ways,  if  parents  would  only  take  the  simple  pre- 
caution of  never  speaking  of  the  fault  in  the  pres- 
ence of  a  third  person. 


DE.  hall's  maxims.  105 

To  prevent  thin  hair  and  premature  baldness, 
first,  keep  a  clean  scalp ;  second,  never  wear  the 
hair  on  a  strain,  or  against  the  direction  of  its 
growth;  third,  never  apply  anything  to  it  but 
Boap-suds  or  pure  water;  fourth,  wear  loose-fitting, 
soft  hats ;  fifth,  let  men  and  children  always  wear 
the  hair  very  short,  and  both  men  and  women 
should  brush  the  hair  a  great  deal,  using  only  a 
coarse  comb,  which  should  touch  the  scalp  only  in 
the  slightest  manner  possible. 

Everybody  knows  that  cold  water  cannot  wash 
the  hands  clean,  and  yet  whole  tomes  are  scribbled 
about  the  purifying  effects  of  cold  water.  Cold 
water  kills  more  than  it  cures.  Hundreds  of  chil- 
dren are  killed  every  year  by  fanatical  mothers 
sousing  them,  head  and  ears,  in  cold  water  every 
day. 

True  wisdom  lies  in  the  moderate  use  of  all  the 
good  things  of  this  life. 

It  ought  to  be  known  that  reading  by  gas-light 
is  very  much  more  injurious  to  the  eyes  than 
candle-light,  from  the  flicker  caused  by  the  unsteady 
jet  of  the  gas  from  its  fountain,  and  also  from  the 
particular  tinge  of  gas-light.  A  candle  flickers 
some,  but  this  is  remedied  by  having  two  candles 
burning  at  the  same  time ;  they  should  be  rather 
behind  the  person ;  the  eyes  should  never  be  al- 
lowed to  face  artificial  light  in  reading. 


106  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Late  and  hearty  suppers  destroy  multitudes, 
either  outright  in  a  night,  or  iu  the  insidious  prog- 
ress of  mouths  and  years. 

For  the  fatuity  of  old  age  there  is  no  cure,  be- 
cause the  state  of  mind  which  induced  it  has  worked 
organic  changes  in  the  brain ;  has,  in  a  sense, 
changed  the  nature  of  its  substance,  as  life-long 
scars  are  left  as  effects  of  wounds  on  the  body. 

By  the  extravagant  use  of  tea,  many  persons 
pass  their  nights  in  restlessness  and  dreams,  with- 
out being  aware  of  the  cause  of  it.  We  advise 
such  to  experiment  on  themselves,  and  omit  the  tea 
altogether  at  supper,  for  a  few  times,  and  notice  the 
result.  If  you  sleep  better,  it  is  clear  that  you 
have  been  using  too  much  tea,  in  quantity  or 
strength. 

My  idea  of  a  true  man  is,  one  who  is  prompted 
to  act  right,  when  the  moment  for  action  arrives, 
purely  because  it  is  right,  and  he  loves  right 
acting. 

The  best  respirator  in  the  world  is,  to  shut  your 
mouth  and  go  ahead ;  the  most  efficient  "  shoulder 
brace,"  is  to  hold  up  your  head  and  march  on; 
while  the  most  valuable  general  "  supporter,"  and 
the  only  one  needed  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten,  is  to 
make  the  patient  go  to  work,  and  compel  him  to 
live  on  his  daily  earnings. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  107 

Men  and  women,  as  "  flat  as  a  flounder,"  patronize 
abdominal  supporters,  when  the  great  mischief  is, 
they  haven't  anything  to  support. 

The  effect  of  constipation  is  to  thicken  the  blood, 
to  make  it  more  impure ;  hence  more  unfit  for 
healthful  purposes.  The  more  impure  the  blood 
is,  tlie  thicker  does  it  become,  the  slower  is  its 
progress,  and  if  nothing  is  done  to  alter  this  state 
of  things,  stagnation  and  death  take  place. 

Ofpen  a  child  bears  a  striking  resemblance  to  a 
grandparent,  without  a  lineament  of  parental  fea- 
ture. 

Whatever  you  do,  get  enough  sleep ;  whatever 
you  do,  take  enough  rest  to  restore  the  used  ener- 
gies of  each  preceding  twenty-four  hours ;  if  you 
do  not,  you  may  escape  for  a  few  months,  and  if 
possessing  a  good  constitution,  years  may  pass 
away  before  any  decided  ill  result  forces  itself  on 
your  attention ;  but  rest  assured,  the  time  will 
come,  when  the  too  often  baffled  system,  like  a 
baffled  horse,  will  refuse  to  work ;  it  will  not  take 
prompt  and  sound  sleep ;  it  will  not  be  rested  by 
repose,  and  that  irritating  wakeftilness  will  come 
upon  you,  which  philosophy  cannot  conquer,  which 
medicine  cannot  cure,  and  wasting  by  slow  degrees 
to  skin  and  bone,  rest  is  found  only  in  the  grave. 

In  leaving  church,  shut  your  mouth  and  move 
on. 


108  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Multitudes  adopt  certain  habits  of  life,  on  t.ae 
ground  that  they  are  healthy,  because  others  are 
healthy  who  have  adopted  them,  not  taking  into 
account  the  difference  of  constitution,  and  least  of 
aU,  the  difference  of  habits  of  life. 

It  is  an  almost  universal  practice  lor  persons  who 
travel,  especially  when  children  are  along,  to  take 
a  variety  of  cakes  and  sweetmeats.  We  earnestly 
warn  our  readers  against  the  practice  —  it  is  in 
every  way  pernicious.  Sweetmeats  tempt  the  ap- 
petite, induce  thirst,  which,  when  gratified,  pro- 
duces a  sensation  of  fulness,  and  discomfort,  and 
crossness.  It  takes  away  the  appetite  of  grown 
persons,  clogs  the  stomach,  and  deranges  the  whole 
system.  There  is  nothing  better  for  children  and 
grown  persons,  than  some  crackers  or  cold  bread, 
with  some  slices  of  ham.  If  really  hungry,  these 
will  sustain  nature,  without  being  liable  to  the  ob- 
jections of  sweetmeats.  But  for  grown  persons  it 
is  far  best  not  to  eat  anything  at  all  while  travelling, 
except  at  regular  meals.  But  if  you  are  not  sure 
of  at  least  a  fuU  half  hour,  for  actual  sitting  at  the 
table,  do  not  go  to  it.  Take  a  sandwich,  and 
travel  on. 

All  children,  under  five  years  of  age,  will  be 
made  the  better,  healthier,  happier,  and  more  good- 
natured,  by  an  undisturbed  sleep  of  one  or  two 
hours  in  the  forenoon. 


DR.  hall's  maxtms.  109 

True  progress  now  consists  in  unlearning  much 
that  is  old,  and  in  acquainting  one's  self  with  the 
new,  in  order  to  be  able  to  determine  its  worth. 

When  a  man  finds  out  that  his  constitution  is  a 
frail  one,  his  wisest  plan  is  to  study  its  infirmities, 
to  find  out  its  weak  points,  and  like  a  beleaguered 
general,  the  winner  of  a  hundred  victories,  be 
always  on  his  guard  as  to  those  weak  points.  An 
old  hat  is  never  made  better  by  being  banged 
about,  while  by  care  it  may  be  made  to  look  re- 
spectable for  years  longer.  A  worn-out  horse  ob- 
tains no  re-invigoration  by  hard  usage.  A  man's 
body,  whether  frail  or  strong,  is  made  capable  of 
greater  endurance  by  being  well  watched  over. 

The  soldier  who  would  as  lief  fight  under  one 
flag  as  another,  is  but  a  degree  better  than  a  traitor. 
The  politician  who  considers  one  party  as  good  as 
another,  is  but  one  remove  from  being  a  weight  on 
either.  A  physician  who  believes  there  is  good  in 
all  "  pathies,"  and  is  ready  to  practise  either,  ac- 
cording to  the  wishes  of  his  patient,  might  just  as 
well  close  hia  office ;  Avhile  the  religionist,  who  is 
80  liberal  in  his  opinions,  that  he  considers  any 
other  Church  as  good  as  his  own,  is  unworthy  of 
the  drmomination  which  has  the  misfortune  to 
claim  him  as  a  member.  To  be  efficient  anywhere, 
we  must  be  decided  in  sentiment  as  well  as  in 
action. 


110  DR.   hall's   maxims. 

Three  fourths  of  the  lives  lost  on  rail  cars,  in 
motion,  are  of  passengers  who  were  not  in  their 
proper  positions  —  meaning  thereby,  that  they 
should  not  only  be  in  their  seats,  but  keep  their 
heads  and  limbs  inside  the  cars. 

The  collections  under  the  ends  of  the  nails  should 
not  be  removed  by  anything  harder  than  a  brush  or 
a  soft  piece  of  wood ;  nor  should  the  nails  be  scraped 
with  a  penknife  or  other  metallic  substance,  as  it 
destroys  the  delicacy  of  their  structure,  and  will  at 
length  give  them  an  unnatural  thickness.  We  are 
not  favorably  impressed  as  to  the  cleanliness  of  a 
person  who  keeps  his  nails  trimmed  to  the  quick, 
as  it  is  often  done  to  prevent  dirt  gathering  there ; 
whereas,  if  a  margin  were  allowed,  it  would  be  an 
index  to  the  cleanliness  of  the  hands,  from  which 
the  collections  under  the  finger  nails  are  made. 
Leave  a  margin,  then,  and  the  moment  you  observe 
that  these  collections  need  removal,  you  may  know 
that  the  hands  need  washing,  when  they  and  the 
nails  are  both  cleaned  together. 

Every  grain  of  sand  must  be  taken  care  of,  or 
the  universe  would  dash  to  atoms ;  and  so  with  the 
little  things  of  the  body. 

If  people  will  guzzle  such  villanous  stuflf  as 
castor  oil  and  cod-liver  oil,  it  may  be  well  to  know 
that  condensed  milk  is  a  very  agreeable  vehicle, 
especially  for  children. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  Ill 

If  we  drink  any  thing  at  meals,  it  should  be  first 
warmed. 

Only  nine  persons  out  of  a  hundred  are  insane 
from  hereditary  causes. 

Be  assured,  ye  poverty-stricken,  that  the  neces- 
sity of  a  vigilant  activity  is  a  happier  inheritance 
than  that  of  piles  of  glittering,  heart-hardening 
gold. 

Temperance,  cleanliness,  and  industry  !  This  is 
the  hygiene  of  the  Bible.  A  "  pathy "  as  old  as 
the  race.  A  system  of  medication  applicable  to  all 
climes  and  all  constitutions;  always  safe,  always 
efficient,  and  to  which  human  sagacity,  in  the  space 
of  six  thousand  years,  has  not  added  one  radically 
new  idea. 

The  safest  plan  is  the  best.  This  is  as  true  in 
medicine  as  in  any  other  department  of  human 
life.  We  had  far  rather  allow  a  patient  to  die 
without  medicine,  than  kill  him  by  an  inopportune 
dose. 

It  is  a  cruelty  to  neglect  the  teeth  of  children. 

Never  send  lor  any  other  than  an  educated  phy- 
sician, in  any  emergency,  for  with  such  only  are 
you  in  safe  and  efficient  hands ;  and  if  relief  is 
possible,  he  can  give  it. 

Sea  vt)yages  much  oftener  accelerate  than  retard 
the  progress  of  consumption. 


112  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  first  step  towards  ridding  a  house  of  bugs, 
flies,  rats,  and  reptiles  is,  to  keep  it  scrupulously 
clean,  from  cellar  to  garret.  But  there  are  multi- 
tudes of  housekeepers  who  are  too  la?:y,  ignorant, 
or  thoughtless  to  adopt  this  method. 

It  is  a  great  waste  of  lusciousness  that  fruits 
and  berries,  in  their  natural  state,  are  not  made 
the  sole  dessert  at  our  meals,  for  three  fourths  of 
the  year;  human  enjoyment  and  health,  and  even 
hfe,  would  be  promoted  by  it. 

Let  everything  about  the  sick  be  perfectly  dry, 
and  scrupulously  clean,  with  an  orderly  arrange- 
ment of  everything  about  the  bed  and  room ;  bo 
quiet  in  movement,  cheerful  in  countenance, 
prompt  in  action,  with  a  plenty  of  pure  air  stead- 
ily circulating.  Have  a  large,  high  room,  with 
windows  facing  the  sun,  for  a  greater  part  of  the 
day  ;  let  the  fire])lace  be  always  open  ;  remove  all 
bottles  and  other  "signs"  of  physic;  allow  no  stand- 
ing liquids,  not  even  pure  water ;  and  have  no 
hanging  garments  about.  As  you  love  the  invalid, 
attend  to  these  things. 

Let  man  imitate  the  brute  creation,  by  eating 
only  when  he  is  hungry,  and  drinking  only  when 
he  is  dry. 

Many  have  retired  on  a  fortune,  and  died  from  fea- 
of  coming  to  want,  and  from  having  nothing  to  do. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  113 

Sometimes  the  wisest  of  us  will  eat  too  much ; 
for  an  occasional  indiscretion  of  this  kind,  two 
or  three  teaspoonfuls  of  strong  vinegar  afford  re- 
lief to  some  persons,  but  aggravate  the  evil  in  a 
few.  The  better  plan  is,  to  take  a  long,  leisure 
walk  in  the  open  air,  with  a  pleasant  associate. 
Keep  on  walking  until  entire  relief  is  experionced, 
and  eat  no  more  of  anything  until  next  morning,  so 
as  to  allow  the  overtaxed  stomach  to  recover  its 
tone,  vigor,  and  elasticity. 

It  is  as  true  in  medicine  as  it  is  in  morals,  the 
knavish  and  the  ignorant  become  fanatical,  and 
propagate  their  frenzies  with  an  energy  worthy 
of  a  better  cause.  They  summon  both  the  ros- 
trum and  the  press  to  aid  them  in  their  purposes ; 
and  anon,  volunteers  but  a  single  remove  from  them 
in  inteUigence  crowd  around,  to  repeat  their  er- 
rors, retail  their  poisons,  or  disseminate  their  insane 
productions. 

If  grown  persons  will  hold  their  nose  and  hold 
their  breath,  they  may  swallow  almost  any  medi- 
icine  without  scarcely  tasting  it. 

Let  the  house  of  God  and  his  worship  have  no 
other  associations  in  the  minds  of  our  children 
than  those  of  serenity,  of  calm  devotion,  and  of 
reverential  awe. 

Bodily  activity  and  bodily  health  are  insepara- 
ble. 

8 


114  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

In  the  estimation  oftlie  wisest  of  men,  the  dia 
tance  between  a  dinner  of  beefsteak  and  vegetables 
was  almost  immeasurable;  but  between  vegetables, 
with  lovingness,  and  a  splendid  repast,  with  a  car- 
ping, grumbling  nature,  there  could  be  no  compar- 
ison, and  he  gladly  cliose  the  former.  Let,  then,  the 
snarling  curs,  fortunately  met  with  only  here  and 
there,  make  a  note  of  this,  if  they  can  but  know 
their  picture ;  and  remember,  that  to  see  no  beau- 
ty in  any  flower,  to  feel  no  warmth  in  any  sun- 
shine, to  draw  no  lovingness  from  any  smile,  is,  of 
all  temperaments,  tlie  most  to  be  pitied,  the  worst 
to  be  feared. 

To  all  we  say,  and  to  invalids  and  sendentary 
people  especially,  when  not  engaged  in  the  actual 
and  serious  business  of  life,  be  out  and  about; 
sing,  whistle,  laugh,  romp,  run,  jump,  swim,  row, 
ride,  do  anything,  rather  than  sit  still  within  any 
four  walls,  or  lounge  on  a  sofa,  or  doze  in  a  chair, 
or  sleep  over  a  dull  book.  Moderate  and  continu- 
ous exercise  in  the  open  air  is  without  a  second,  as 
a  means  of  health,  both  to  the  well  and  to  the 
sick. 

Action  is  the  universal  law  of  animal  life.   There 
is  not  a  living  thing,  whether  insect,  or  bird,  or 
beast,  that  will  not  pine  and  fall  away,  and  perish, 
under  bodily  restraint.     Man  himself  is  no  excep 
tion  to  the  world-wide  ordinance. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  115 

The  march  of  improvement  lias  of  late  years 
manifested  itself  in  almost  every  department  of 
human  life,  but  none  has  been  made  to  the  old- 
fashioned  way  of  travel  on  horseback ;  for  it  is  the 
most  instructive,  and  the  most  healthful,  as  well 
as  the  most  delightful  of  all. 

Cultivate  health  and  a  good  heart :  for  with 
these  you  may  be  "  comfortable  "  without  a  far- 
thing ;  without  them,  never  I  —  although  you  may 
possess  millions. 

The  customs  of  a  nation  are  the  practical  results 
of  the  combined  observation  of  that  nation  in  the 
course  of  generations,  and,  to  a  considerable  extent, 
are  founded  on  common-sense  principles,  and  are  the 
best  under  the  circumstances.  Hence  every  man, 
however  intelligent,  should  oppose  a  custom  of  the 
country  with  great  diffidence,  and  not  without  long 
and  deep  investigation. 

It  is  80  much  easier  to  swallow  drugs  than  to 
make  careful  observations  and  self-denials,  that 
even  intelligent  people  allow  themselves  to  fall 
helplessly  into  the  arms  of  any  transparent  ignora- 
mus who  can  muster  the  courage  to  write  or  speak 
a  deliberate  and  unblushing  falsehood. 

Multitudes  there  are,  especially  of  young  peo- 
ple, who  squander  their  money,  and  their  more 
precious  time,  in  the  purchase  of  trashy  reading, 
and  mere  animal  indulgences,  to  end  in  premature 
death. 


116  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Nine  tenths  of  all  newspaper  receipts  in  refer- 
ence to  health  and  disease  are  either  untrue,  use- 
less, or  pernicious ;  hence,  the  whole  of  them,  in 
order  to  be  on  the  safe  side,  should  be  discarded, 
unless  the  name  of  a  physician,  or  that  of  some  re- 
spectable medical  journal,  is  attached.  Editors  of 
newspapers,  from  their  obliging  disposition,  are 
often  imposed  upon  by  some  weak  or  half-obser- 
vant correspondent  or  subscriber. 

The  greatest  humanity  we  can  show  to  the  sick 
is,  to  secure  to  them  the  most  important  remedies 
ever  known,  to  wit,  quietness,  cleanliness,  and 
pure  air;  these  alone  would  cure  three  fourths  of 
all  our  diseases,  but  we  will  not  use  them ;  yet 
they  are  everywhere  attainable,  and  cost  nothing 
but  a  little  trouble. 

A  THOUSAND  times  better  would  it  be  for  this 
whole  land  if  not  an  atom  of  food  was  ever  allowed 
to  pass  adult  lips  at  a  later  hour  than  five  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon.  Such  a  practice,  habitually  and  liter- 
ally adhered  to,  would  save  more  lives  every  year 
than  are  destroyed  by  steam,  and  sea,  and  all  wars 
together. 

Do  not  force  your  children  to  take  one  single 
mouthful  of  any  food  or  drink  which  they  do  not 
like.  In  sickness  or  health  consult  the  instincts  of 
the  appetite,  and  yield  to  them  implicit  and  instant 
obedience. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  117 

The  frequent  taking  of  any  medicine  to  remove 
costiveness  does,  at  the  most,  only  protract  the 
event — making  it,  however,  the  more  certain. 

As  to  men,  we  say,  when  the  hair  begins  to  fall 
out,  the  best  plan  is  to  have  it  cut  short,  give  it  a 
good  brushing  with  a  moderately  stiff  brush  while 
the  hair  is  dry,  then  wash  it  well  with  warm  soap- 
suds, then  rub  into  the  scalp,  about  the  roots  of  the 
hair,  a  little  bay  rum,  or  brandy,  or  camphor-water. 
Do  these  things  twice  a  month,  but  the  brushing 
of  the  scalp  may  be  profitably  done  twice  a  week. 
Dampen  the  hair  with  water  every  time  the  toilet 
is  made.  Nothing  ever  made  is  better  for  the  hair 
than  pure  soft  water,  if  the  scalp  is  kept  clean  in 
the  way  we  have  named. 

Milton's  blindness  was  the  result  of  overwork 
and  dyspepsia. 

Any  practice  that  makes  a  man  feel  better  soon- 
est is  caught  up  with  avidity,  and  lauded  to  the 
skies,  before  time  has  been  given  to  test  the  per- 
manency of  eflect ;  so,  by  the  time  the  falsehood  is 
on  its  feet,  and  often  before  the  ink  is  dry  which 
recorded  it,  the  victim  is  in  the  grave,  and  can 
never  give  the  contradiction. 

He  is  the  grandest  man,  who  acts  from  principle 
alone.  He  is  pitiful,  who  does  right  from  compul- 
sion. 


118  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Baldness  is  considered  a  great  calamity  by 
many.  It  is  brought  on  in  many  cases  by  wearing 
the  hat  too  constantly,  or  by  any  other  means 
which  keeps  the  head  too  warm.  Another  cause 
of  baldness  is,  the  filthy  practice  of  keeping  the 
hair  soaked  in  various  kinds  of  grease,  or  allowing 
the  scalp  to  remain  unwashed  lor  weeks  and 
months  together. 

To  get  well  of  any  chronic  disease,  of  a  serious 
character,  and  to  remain  cured,  a  man  must  be  led 
to  see  the  nature  of  his  own  case,  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  his  own  constitution,  and  must 
have  that  force  of  character  which  compels  com- 
pliance with  those  requisitions.  As  long  as  the 
world  stands,  the  ignoramus  and  the  animal  will  die 
before  his  time.  Intelligent  self-denial  is  the  price 
of  health  and  long  life  the  world  over:  it  never 
will  be  otherwise. 

People  do  not  get  sick  without  a  cause,  except 
in  rare  cases ;  and  that  cause  is,  very  generally, 
within  themselves,  resulting  from  inattention,  ig- 
norance, or  recklessness,  either  on  the  part  of 
parents,  teachers,  or  themselves. 

If  any  medicine  is  taken  to  regulate  the  diges- 
tion, that  medicine  soon  becomes  necessary  to  that 
regulation,  and  the  man  is  doomed  to  make  an 
apothecary's  shop  of  himself  for  the  remainder  ol 
his  life. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  119 

A  NAMED  article  may  be  given  for  a  named  dis- 
ease or  symptom,  and  that  symptom  may  disappear 
after  it;  and  yet  the  remedy  may  be  of  no  more 
vahie  than  a  thimbleful  of  dust — for  the  reason, 
that  tlie  symptom  in  question  may  have  disappeared 
of  itself,  as  millions  of  symptoms  have  done,  with- 
out any  means  whatever. 

Ripe  fruits  and  berries,  slightly  acid,  will  remove 
the  ordinary  diarrhoeas  of  early  summer. 

Common  rice,  parched  brown  like  coifee,  and  then 
boiled  and  eaten  in  the  ordinary  way,  without  any 
other  food,  is,  with  perfect  quietude  of  body,  one 
of  the  most  effective  remedies  for  troublesome 
looseness  of  bowels. 

Multitudes  think  it  a  hard  necessity  to  tug  and 
toil  for  daily  bread,  or  that  it  sliould  require  their 
undivided  energies  of  body  and  mind  in  planning, 
contriving,  and  laboring  to  maintain  their  position. 
This  is  not  a  hard,  but  a  happy  necessity,  as  these 
very  activities  are  not  only  the  preservatives  of 
body  and  mind,  but  are  productive  of  those  utilities 
which  hasten  human  progress,  develop  our  powers, 
elevate  the  people,  and  happify  mankind. 

We  need,  ordinarily,  seven  hours  of  sleep  in  sum- 
mer and  eight  in  winter. 

We  breathe  in  sleep  about  fifteen  times  every 
minute. 


120  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Those  parents  who  make  the  greatest  slaves  of 
themselves  for  the  benefit  of  tlieir  children,  experi- 
ence the  least  heart-comfort  from  those  cliildren  in 
after  life ;  while  sons  and  daughters  who  have  been 
made  to  bear  their  full  share  of  dojnestic  cares,  and 
burdens,  and  trials,  and  labors,  will  grow  up  with 
kind  hearts  and  generous  natures,  making  sympa- 
thizing husbands,  considerate  wives,  and  benevolent 
citizens. 

Each  inhalation  of  })uro  air  is  returned  loaded 
with  poison ;  a  hunched  and  fifty  grains  of  it  is 
added  to  the  atmosphere  of  a  bedroom  every  hour, 
or  twelve  hundred  grains  during  a  night.  Unless 
that  poison-laden  at)nosphere  is  diluted  or  removed 
by  a  constant  current  of  air  passing  through  the 
room,  the  blood  soon  becomes  impure,  then  circu- 
lates sluggislily,  accumulating  and  pressing  on  the 
brain,  giving  rise  to  frightful  dreams. 

The  importance  of  wholesome  water  and  good 
sewerage  to  every  single  dwelling  cannot  be  over- 
estimated, and  any  city  neglecting  tliis  vital  matter 
must  expect  to  suffer  at  all  times,  and  particularly 
when  an  epidemic  of  any  kind  sweeps  over  the 
country. 

Never  swallow  an  atom  of  food  wliile  in  a  pas- 
sion, or  if  under  any  great  mental  excitement, 
whether  of  a  depressing  or  elevating  character; 
brutes  won't  do  it. 


DK.  hall's  maxims.  121 

There  are  not  a  few  who  cstimule  tlic  measure 
of  tlieir  own  wit  ami  wi^idom  by  the  tumiber  of  ob- 
jections tliey  can  raise  against  what  is  claimed  to 
be  new  and  useiul.  In  tlieir  inordinate  fear  of  be- 
ing imposed  upon,  they  run  to  the  other  extreme: 
(brgetting  tliat  quite  as  great  a  wrong  is  done  to 
themselves  and  to  society  in  opposing  what  is  really 
good,  as  in  blindly  advocating  a  meie  pretence. 

To  be  able  to  lie  dowu  at  night  and  fall  to  sleep 
within  ten  minutes,  and  to  know  no  dream  or  wak- 
ing until  the  morning  comes,  an<l  then  to  bound  out 
of  bed  full  of  health,  freshness,  and  good  humor,  is 
a  blessing  well  worthy  the  warmest  outgushings  of 
a  thankful  heart  towards  Him  who  giveth  us  all 
things  richly  to  enjoy. 

Do  not  allow  yourself  to  read  a  moment  in  any 
reclining  position,  whether  in  bed  or  on  a  sofa. 

It  is  not  wise  to  attribute  the  inestimable  bless- 
ing of  good  health  to  any  one  particular  observance 
or  habit ;  nor  on  the  other  hand  is  it  well  to  attrib- 
ute ill  health  to  any  one  cause,  nor  to  consider  a 
return  to  gocd  health  as  the  result  of  tlie  last  thing 
done.  The  tendency  of  a  bad  cold,  if  let  alone  and 
not  renewed,  is  to  cure  itself  at  the  end  of  two 
weeks,  while  the  last  of  the  dozen  or  two  things 
taken,  or  the  last  doctor  called  in,  gets  all  the 
credit,  when  it  should  have  been  given  to  Nature 
hersel£ 


122  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

When  one  man  gets  mad  at  the  stupidity  of 
another,  he  calls  him  a  goat,  a  godse,  or  an  ass ;  but 
these  much  abused  animals  are  respectable  as  to 
their  acquirements  in  the  judicious  treatment  of 
themselves  when  ailing,  in  comparison  with  the 
masses  of  humanity. 

The  Almighty  governs  the  universe  of  mind  like 
that  of  matter,  by  fixed  laws,  and  through  their 
legitimate  operation  does  he  intend  to  tlirow  around 
this  world  a  chain  of  love,  and  draw  it  up  to 
heaven,  to  immortality,  and  eternal  life ;  nor  does 
he  seemingly  intend  to  do  this  himself;  it  appears 
to  be  his  plan  to  make  his  church,  his  children, 
work  their  own  passage  across  the  sea  of  time,  and 
to  help  one  another  to  attain  a  beatific  state  beyond 
the  boundaries  of  this  present  existence,  for  it  is 
expressly  commanded  to  "  work  while  it  is  day ;  " 
yet,  at  the  same  time,  we  are  to  be  regarded  as,  in 
a  sense,  "  co-workers  "  with  him  in  building  up  the 
heavenly  kingdom. 

If  an  action  of  the  bowels  does  not  occur  at  the 
usual  hour,  eat  not  an  atom  until  they  do  act,  at 
least  for  thirty-six  hours  ;  meanwhile  drink  largely 
of  cold  water  or  hot  teas,  and  exercise  in  the  open 
air  to  the  extent  of  a  gentle  perspiration,  and  keep 
this  up  until  things  are  righted :  this  one  sugges- 
tion, if  practised,  would  save  myriads  of  lives  every 
year,  both  in  city  and  country. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  123 

All  infants  and  young  children  would  die  in  a 
very  few  weeks,  if  not  allowed  to  eat  anything 
containing  sugar,  because  they  need  the  carbon  of 
the  sugar  to  keep  them  warm ;  their  extravagant, 
their  insatiable  fondness  for  everything  sweet,  is  a 
wise  instinct  of  nature.  If  candies  were  used  as 
desserts  in  winter,  and  fruits  and  berries,  in  their 
natural  state,  ripe,  raw,  and  perfect  in  summer,  to 
the  exclusion  of  pies,  tarts,  pastries,  and  puddings, 
human  life  would  be  extended,  and  many  dentists 
would  have  to  seek  other  occupations. 

If  the  bowels  are  loose,  lie  down  in  a  warm  bed, 
remain  there,  and  eat  nothing  until  you  are  weU. 

The  great  regulator  of  sleep  is  exercise ;  it  is  the 
best  anodyne  in  the  universe,  and  is  the  only  one 
that  is  always  safe,  always  efficient,  and  always 
wholesome  and  natural.  If  you  cannot  take  much 
exercise,  take  a  little,  and  every  second  hour  in- 
crease the  distance,  and  soon  you  will  be  able  to 
walk  a  mile  more  easily  than  you  walked  the  first 
hundred  yards. 

To  all  young  persons,  to  students,  to  the  seden- 
tary, and  to  invalids,  the  fullest  sleep  that  the  sys- 
tem will  take,  without  artificial  means,  is  the  bahn 
of  life  —  without  it  there  can  be  no  restoration  to 
health  and  activity  again.  Never  wake  up  the  sick 
or  infirm,  or  young  chOdren  of  a  morning  —  it  is  a 
barbarity ;  let  them  wake  of  themselves. 


124  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

A  SCROFULOUS  person  should  eat  fresh  meats 
largely,  and  bread,  and  fruits,  and  berries  of  every 
description,  using  vegetables  sparingly.  In  short, 
whatever  promotes  high  bodily  health,  promotes 
the  eradication  of  a  scrofulous  taint ;  hence,  it  is 
the  greatest  wisdom  on  the  part  of  those  who  are 
scrofalous,  to  study  how  and  what  gives  to  them 
the  greatest  general  good  health,  and  to  live  ac- 
cordingly. 

The  three  best  medicines  in  the  world  are 
warmth,  abstinence,  and  repose. 

A  GOOD  dinner,  with  an  entire  "  abandon "  of 
thought,  renovates  and  renews  both  mind  and  body. 
This  is  a  clear  proof  that  thought  produces  waste, 
as  well  as  physical  exertion ;  it  also  shows  the  fal- 
lacy, the  mischievous  fallacy,  of  a  certain  class  of 
persons,  who  have  forced  themselves  on  the  public 
as  their  teachers,  that  studojits  do  not  require  as 
substantial  food  as  do  common  workmen.  If  great 
thinkers  do  not  eat  and  digest  substantial  beef  and 
bread,  they  will  soon  cease  to  shine  as  lights  in  the 
world  of  mind. 

I  LABOR  for  the  good  time  coming,  when  sickness 
and  disease,  except  congenital,  or  from  accident, 
will  be  regarded  as  the  result  of  ignorance  or  ani- 
malism, and  will  degrade  the  individual,  in  the  esti 
mation  of  the  good,  as  much  as  drunkenness  now 
does. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  125 

When  will  intelligent  men  learn  to  think  for 
themselves,  and  cease  to  place  their  own  lives  and 
health,  and  tliose  of  their  families  and  friends,  in 
the  hands  of  the  specious,  reckless,  and  unprinci- 
pled charlatan? 

It  is  the  irrational  dread  of  taking  cold,  by  going 
out  of  doors,  which  kills  nine  consumptiv^es  out  of 
ten,  far  sooner  than  the  disease  itself  would  have 
done.  If  any  man,  sick  or  well,  wants  an  infallible 
receipt  for  getting  into  that  unfortunate  condition 
in  which  "  the  slightest  tniu^  r  +he  world  gives 
him  a  cold,"  let  him  hover  around  tne  fire  all  day, 
let  him  bundle  up,  head  and  ears,  every  time  he 
puts  his  head  out  at  a  door  or  window,  and,  besides, 
keep  his  room  regulated  to  a  degree,  for  months  at 
a  time.  Such  a  person  never  can  got  well  of  any- 
thing; such  a  person,  with  such  habits  persevered 
in,  will  die  long  before  his  time,  it  matters  not  what 
may  be  his  ailment. 

The  best  servants  are  those  who  are  sternly  held 
up  to  the  fullest  performance  of  their  duty.  But, 
while  we  do  this,  we  should  be  considerate  in  onr 
requirements,  courteous  in  our  bearing  towards 
them,  and  prompt  in  our  payments. 

Every  man  owes  it  to  society  to  become  rich,  for 
the  poor  man's  advice  is  never  heeded,  let  ?t  be 
ever  so  valuable. 


126  DE.  hall's  maxjms. 

The  prejudices  against  calomel  have  arisen  from 
its  indiscriminate  and  careless  use.  In  precisely 
the  same  manner  have  prejudices  quite  as  strong 
arisen  against  the  use  of  tea  and  coffee,  and  roast 
beef  and  fruits. 

The  accomplished  geologist,  while  travelling  over 
barren  wastes  and  rocky  hills  to  explore  some  dis- 
tant golden  district,  can  make  every  pebble  and 
every  lump  of  earth  minister  to  his  instruction  and 
amusement,  without  its  at  all  interfering  with  the 
main  object  of  his  journey ;  just  so  may  a  man's 
mind  be  so  well  stored  with  intelligent  information 
on  the  subject  of  health,  and  the  general  laws  of 
life,  that  observations  may  be  made  on  these  every 
hour  of  his  waking  existence  almost,  with  pleasure 
and  with  profit,  without  at  all  interfering  with  the 
main  business  of  life,  and  also  without  having  any 
undesirable  influence  on  mind  or  body ;  for  he  may 
do  this  without  being  forever  engaged  in  looking 
out  for  symptoms,  aggravating  those  present  or 
imagining  those  which  are  not. 

A  GREAT  many  jokes  are  cracked  at  the  expense 
of  tlie  doctors,  and  at  the  expense  of  the  reputation 
for  intellect  of  those  who  crack  them ;  for  a  mo- 
ment's consideration  would  teach  any  one,  that  it 
is  to  the  doctor's  interest  to  keep  the  patient  alive 
as  long  as  possible,  for  as  long  as  the  patient  lives 
he  pays. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  127 

Persons  may  outgrow  disease,  and  become 
healthy,  by  proper  attention  to  the  laws  of  their 
physical  constitutions.  By  moderate  and  daily  ex- 
ercise, men  may  become  active  and  strong  in  limb 
and  muscle. 

A.  MAN  who  has  so  much  of  the  milk  of  human 
kindness  in  him,  as  never  to  be  able  to  refuse  a 
friend  a  dollar  or  an  indorsement,  inevitably  comes 
out  at  the  little  end  of  the  horn  ;  is  beggared.  The 
miser  often  clutches  so  closely,  as  to  lose  all. 

In  small  quantities,  and  occasionally,  many  things 
may  be  eaten  with  advantage,  which,  if  eaten  con- 
tinuously for  weeks  and  months,  or  in  inordinate 
amounts,  would  occasion  serious  results. 

Not  only  the  body,  but  the  mind  and  the  heart, 
become  diseased  by  giving  loose  to  the  imagintv 
tion ;  in  this  very  way  was  it  that  men  were  once 
led  into  heathenism. 

It  is  said  to  have  been  satisfactorily  demonstrated 
that  every  time  a  wife  scolds  her  husband  she  adds 
a  new  wrinkle  to  her  face.  It  is  thought  that  the 
announcement  of  this  fact  will  have  a  most  salutary 
effect,  especially  as  it  is  understood  that  every  time 
a  wife  smiles  on  her  husband  it  will  remove  one  of 
the  old  wrinkles. 

Whatever  promotes  a  comfortable  and  harmless 
state  of  the  mind,  promotes  health. 


128  DB.    HALL'S   MAXIMS. 

Men  consume  too  much  food  and  too  little  pure 
air;  they  take  too  much  medicine  and  too  little 
exercise. 

A  DAILY  action  of  the  bowels  is  essential  to  good 
health  under  all  circumstances ;  the  want  of  it  en- 
genders the  most  painful  and  fatal  diseases.  Nature 
prompts  this  action  with  great  regularity,  most 
generally  after  breakfast. 

I,  AS  a  world's  wanderer,  found  out  a  long  time 
ago,  that  very  often  the  best  side  of  a  bed  was  the 
outside. 

No  man  knows  that  he  is  not  a  knave  until  he  is 
"  broke,"  until  he  has  failed  in  business.  It  is  com- 
paratively easy  to  be  honest  when  surrounded  with 
abundance,  when  there  are  no  real,  strong  tempta- 
tions to  be  otherwise. 

If  we  would  eat  but  half  as  much  in  early  spring, 
the  blood,  which  bracing  winter  bequeaths  in  per- 
fect purity  to  spring,  would  remain  pure ;  or  if,  in 
default  of  this  precaution,  when  we  find  ourselves 
ill,  we  would  diminish  our  food  within  proper  bounds 
forthwith,  and  take  large  amounts  of  daily  pleasur- 
able exercise  in  the  open  air,  not  involving  fatigue, 
the  blood  would  purify  itself  in  Nature's  own  safe, 
harmless,  and  beneficent  way,  just  as  certain  as  a 
clear  running  spring  will  purify  itself  after  disturb- 
ance if  it  is  only  let  alone. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  129 

Speaking  of  changing  the  clothing,  we  consider 
it  kazardous  to  lessen  its  amount  after  dressing  in 
the  morning,  unless  active  exercise  is  taken  im- 
mediately. No  under-garment  should  be  changed 
for  lighter  ones  during  the  day  ordinarily.  The 
best,  safest,  and  most  convenient  time  for  lessening 
the  clothing  is  in  the  morning,  when  we  first  dress 
for  the  day. 

Patent  medicines  are  temporary  in  their  effects  ; 
they  alleviate  or  smother,  instead  of  eradicating 
disease. 

How  illy  Nature  bears  the  sudden  arrest  of  some 
of  her  operations,  is  strikingly  exemplified  in  the 
fact,  that  if  the  blandest  of  all  liquids,  lukewarm 
milk,  is  injected  into  a  blood-vessel  against  the  cur- 
rent, instant  death  may  result,  but  if  introduced 
gently  in  the  direction  of  the  current,  it  is  borne 
with  impunity. 

Warts.  —  If  a  bit  of  soft  wood  is  chewed  a  little 
at  one  end,  so  as  to  make  it  brushy,  and  is  then 
dipped  into  aqua-fortis  or  nitric  acid,  and  rubbed 
lightly  on  the  wart,  so  as  to  rub  it  in,  it  will  dis- 
appear in  a  few  days ;  the  same  is  eflScacious  if  ap- 
plied to  the  warts  on  horses ;  some  advise  that  tlie 
wart  be  shaved  first,  but  we  instinctively  shudder 
at  the  idea,  because  warts,  like  corns,  have  been 
sometimes  made  to  bleed  excessively,  causing  lock- 
jaw and  death. 

9 


130  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Moral  philosopliers  live  longer  than  any  other 
class  of  men,  showing  the  influence  whicli  the  pre- 
vailing state  of  the  mind  has  on  the  human  health. 

Very  many  diseases  are  laid  at  the  door  of  "  the 
weather."  It  is  the  want  of  weather  which  brings 
multitudes  in  our  larger  cities  to  an  untimely 
grave. 

This  working  for  others,  how  it  wakes  up  the 
pulses  of  the  heart,  how  it  imparts  healtli  to  the 
body,  and  happiness  to  the  mind !  A  long  lease  of 
life  will  be  given  as  the  earthly  reward  of  such  in 
dustries. 

Tape-worms  come  from  eating  measly  meat. 
There  are  no  worms  in  healthy  beef.  Persons  who 
eat  dried  beef  are  liable  to  become  wormy,  unless 
it  is  thoroughly  cooked.  No  American  ever  thinks 
of  eating  any  form  of  hog  flesh  without  its  having 
been  first  well  cooked ;  but  many  eat  chipped  beef, 
which  often  has  the  germ  of  the  tape-worm :  this 
chipped  beef  has  never  been  cooked,  but  only 
salted,  and  then  dried  and  placed  on  the  table  as  a 
relish ;  this  should  never  be  done  until  it  has  been 
thoroughly  cooked. 

Pads  and  supporters  are  all  pernicious,  are  worse 
than  useless,  because  they  teach  the  system  to  rely 
on  them,  and  cannot  support  one  part  of  the  body 
without  causing  an  unnatural  strain  on  some  othar 
part,  and,  to  that  extent,  tend  to  disease  that  part. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  131 

If  liquor  fattens,  why  is  it  that  we  see  so  many 
spindle-shanked  drunkards  ? 

There  is  only  one  antidote  to  life's  disappoint- 
ments, and  that  is  to  accustom  the  mind  to  look  for- 
ward to  the  end,  to  the  great  fact  of  one  anticipa- 
tion that  can  never  fail  of  realization,  and  which  is 
so  stupendous  in  its  nature,  so  resplendent,  that  all 
other  desires  and  expectations  pale  away  in  utter 
insignificance ;  and  that  is  a  well-grounded  hope 
that  when  the  mortal  body  is  laid  in  the  grave,  the 
immortal  part,  the  man  himself,  shall  pass  into  an 
immortal  existence,  to  dwell  forever  in  the  bosom 
of  the  great  Father  of  us  all. 

To  be  truly  happy,  a  man  must  be  healthy  and 
good ;  a  sick  man  may  be  happy  in  some  transient 
moods  of  mind,  but  this  is  of  short  duration.  To 
have  a  sustained  happiness,  to  have  in  the  main, 
from  day  to  day,  a  life  of  sunshine,  good  health  is 
indispensable.  But  if  a  man  is  sick  in  body,  and 
unhappy  in  his  mind,  how  then  ?  Procure  a  constant 
occupation,  in  which  you  take  a  pleasurable  interest, 
while  you  are  reasonably  sure  that  you  are  ac- 
complishing your  object.  If  this  is  an  outrdoor  oc- 
cupation, success  is  the  more  speedy  and  certain. 
It  ought  always  to  be  borne  in  mind,  that  whatever 
is  done  for  the  health,  will  be  many  fold  more  effi- 
cient if  an  object  is  kept  in  view,  so  absorbing,  that 
the  health  part  is  kept  completely  out  of  sight. 


132  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

One  of  the  greatest  physiological  crimes  of  our 
country  is,  that  its  people  do  not  get  rest  enough, 
do  not  sleep  enough. 

The  living  great  should  always  bear  in  mind  that 
the  truth  of  history  demands  a  faithful  portraiture 
after  they  have  left  the  stage  of  life. 

NiGHTMAEE  is  causod  by  remaining  so  long  in  one 
position  that  the  blood  ceases  to  circulate. 

If  "  bitters  "  aid  digestion,  why  is  it  that  those 
who  take  them  all  the  time  are  never  well  ? 

A  HEALTHY  fool  is  happier  than  a  sick  Solomon. 
If  a  person  has  thirty  or  forty  years  to  live,  it  is 
surely  better  to  eat  regularly  the  best  things,  and 
pass  those  years  in  a  happy  exemption  from  sick- 
ness and  suffering,  than  to  eat  anything  and  every- 
thing, at  any  time  and  every  time  that  suits  our 
convenience  and  our  whims.  The  man  who  eats 
heartily  three  times  a  day  without  any  unpleasant 
reminder  afterwards,  is  amply  repaid  for  the  effort 
it  may  at  times  cost  him  to  have  regular  meals,  or 
the  self-denial  which  he  may  practise  in  waiting  for 
his  regular  dinner-time.  The  great  general  rule 
for  all,  especially  for  women  and  those  who  live  in- 
doors most  of  the  time,  is,  eat  nothing  whatever 
between  meals,  have  an  interval  of  not  less  tlian 
five  hours  between  each  meal,  and  let  the  last  meal 
of  the  day  be  about  sundown,  and  let  it  consist  of 
some  cold  bread  and  butter  and  a  cup  of  hot  tea. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  133 

All  garments  worn  next  the  skin  during  the  day 
should  be  removed  at  night,  and  spread  out  for 
thorough  airing  and  drying 

If  a  man  is  deprived  of  sunlight,  he  fades  away 
like  a  flower  without  water,  and  always  comes  to  an 
untimely  grave. 

It  is  nothing  short  of  a  cruelty  and  a  murder  to 
allow  school  children  to  sit  up  late  at  night,  or  to 
hurry  them  from  their  beds  in  the  morning. 

An  erect  gait  gives  to  a  woman  a  queenly  ap- 
pearance, and  to  men  an  air  of  manliness,  integrity, 
and  fearlessness.  To  bend  forward  or  downward 
while  walking  indicates  debility,  depression,  or 
mental  trouble,  and  always  aggravates  itself  and 
promotes  disease. 

Food  feeds  the  body,  thought  feeds  the  brain, 
and  fertilizers  feed  the  soil.  The  better  the  food, 
the  better  the  thought ;  the  better  the  fertilizers, 
the  more  vigorous  does  the  body  become,  the 
greater  the  activity  of  the  mind,  and  the  higher 
productiveness  is  there  in  the  soil.  By  the  better 
living  of  the  last  half  century,  ten  years  have  been 
added  to  the  average  of  human  existence  in  civil 
ized  lands. 

He,  and  he  only,  is  safe  from  a  drunkard's  death, 
who  never  tastes  a  drop  of  anything  that  can 
intoxicate. 


134  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

No  one  should  write  when  very  hungry,  or 
immediately  after  eating,  nor  under  the  influence 
of  any  unnatural  stimulant,  nor  while  in  a  passion  ; 
else,  in  this  latter  case,  he  will  most  certainly  make 
a  fool  of  himself.  Those  who  write  under  a  de- 
pression of  spirits,  will  always  write  nonsense,  or 
untrue  things.  Those  who  write  a  great  deal  late 
at  night,  will  lose  their  health  or  die  prematurely. 
The  best  time  for  writing  with  freshness,  vigor,  and 
logical  truthfulness  is  in  the  morning,  when  the 
brain  has  been  recuperated  and  renovated  by  the 
natural  stimulus  of  healthful  sleep,  before  its  force 
has  been  expanded  or  divided  on  the  common 
affairs  of  life.  No  man  ought  to  write  over  four 
hours  in  twenty-four,  nor  over  one  hour  at  a  sit- 
ting; even  oftener,  it  would  be  better  to  walk  a 
few  minutes,  indoor  or  out,  to  rest  the  brain ;  but 
always  write  when  the  mind  takes  hold  of  the  sub- 
ject, when  the  spirit  is  on  you,  be  it  day  or  night. 

Every  intelligent  person  owes  it  to  himself  to 
learn  from  his  family  physician  how  to  ascertain 
the  pulse  in  health ;  then,  by  comparing  it  with 
what  it  is  when  ailing,  he  may  have  some  idea  of 
the  urgency  of  his  own  case,  and  it  will  be  an  im- 
portant guide  to  the  physician.  Parents  ought  to 
know  the  healthy  pulse  of  each  child. 

Cultivate  an  equable  temper ;  many  a  man  has 
fallen  dead  in  a  fit  of  passion. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  135 

To  prevent  a  man  from  getting  sick,  is  a  more 
glorious  mission  than  to  cure  him.  The  parent, 
the  teacher,  the  minister,  these  are  the  parties  who 
are  to  cooperate  in  raising  sons  and  daughters  of 
robust  health,  and  cultivated  intellect,  and  edu- 
cated consciences,  to  occupy  the  responsible  posi- 
tions of  a  coming  age. 

Never  reflect  on  a  past  action,  which  was  done 
with  a  good  motive  and  with  the  best  judgment  at 
the  time. 

Ill  health  ia  the  most  prominent  cause  of  insanity, 
induced  by  insuflScient  exercise,  intemperance, 
over-eating,  and  yielding  to  trouble,  care,  and  men- 
tal anxiety ;  the  always  certain  remedy  against 
these  being  a  more  general  cultivation  of  out-door 
activities,  a  greater  attention  to  stirring  business, 
giving  preference  to  those  occupations  which  are 
congenial,  absorbing,  and  encouragingly  remunera- 
tive. 

He  is  a  madman  who  disinherits  his  wife  if  she 
marries  again ;  and  madder  than  all  these,  are  they 
who  live  here,  as  if  there  were  no  hereafter. 

Let  your  appetite  always  come  uninvited. 

Neither  poverty,  hardships,  nor  exposures  tend 
to  lengthen  life ;  they  always  shorten  the  average 
of  life  by  many  years,  except  in  those  lew  cases 
where  there  are  counteracting  conditions. 


136  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

There  is  scarcely  an  ache  or  pain  in  the  whole 
body  which  is  not  soothed  or  removed  by  hot  water, 
if  apphed  as  follows:  Dip  a  piece  of  flannel  (or 
any  cloth),  of  five  or  six  folds  or  layers,  in  boiling 
water,  and  lay  it  on  the  painful  part,  covering  it 
instantly  with  a  dry  flannel,  whose  edges  extend 
over  the  wet  one  an  inch  or  more ;  as  soon  as  the 
wet  flannel  has  dried  a  little,  say  in  five  minutes  or 
less,  slip  it  out  under  one  edge  of  the  dry  cloth, 
and  introduce  another  flannel  as  hot  as  can  be 
handled ;  do  this  in  so  adroit  a  manner  as  to  allow 
as  little  cold  air  as  possible  to  get  to  the  skin 
touched  by  the  hot  flannel ;  keep  on  thus,  until  the 
pain  or  other  sufiering  is  removed ;  the  most  violent 
dry,  and  distressing  coughs  are  thus  loosened  in  a 
few  minutes  by  this  hot-water  poultice  being  ap- 
plied to  the  throat  and  upper  part  of  the  chest ;  if 
done  adroitly,  the  worst  forms  of  croup  in  children 
are  so  subdued  in  half  an  hour  that  the  child, 
which  was  almost  gasping  for  breath,  perspires,  its 
cough  loosens,  and  it  falls  asleep. 

Skating  has  all  the  enlivening  influences  of  dan- 
cing, and  none  of  its  necessary  immoralities ;  with 
the  incalculable  advantage  of  securing  the  breath- 
ing of  a  pure  and  invigorating  out-door  air,  instead 
of  the  stifling  heat  and  dust  of  the  ball-room. 

A  PIG  will  not  eat  when  he  is  not  hungry.  Why 
should  we  ? 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  137 

Whoever  drinka  no  liquids  at  meala,,will  add 
years  of  pleasurable  existence  to  his  life.  Of  cold 
or  warm  drinks,  the  former  are  most  pernicious; 
drinking  at  meals  induces  persons  to  eat  more  than 
they  otherwise  would,  as  any  one  can  verify  by 
experiment,  and  it  is  excess  in  eating  which  devas- 
tates the  land  with  sickness,  suffering,  and  death. 

Night  is  the  time  for  rest,  and  both  body  and 
brain,  especially  as  to  students,  require  all  the  sleep 
the  system  will  take ;  they  ought  never  to  be  waked 
up ;  Nature  will  infallibly  do  that  when  she  has  had 
her  fill,  and  to  shorten  sleep,  is  to  shorten  life ;  half 
the  time  of  daylight  is  as  long  as  any  man  ought  to 
spend  in  hard  study. 

They  are  wisest  who,  when  really  ailing,  do 
nothing  on  their  own  responsibility,  but  promptly 
consult  a  physician. 

"  Throw  physic  to  the  dogs  1 "  was  a  wise  injunc- 
tion. 

Half  the  men  don't  deserve  wives,  and  yet  they 
are  the  very  ones  who  get  the  best. 

Marry  into  a  different  blood  and  temperament 
from  your  own. 

No  reformation  can  be  relied  on  which  is  not 
founded  on  intelligence,  associated  with  a  stem 
religious  principle. 


138  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

In  recovering  from  any  form  of  disease,  keep 
abundantly  and  comfortably  waiTa.  Studiously 
avoid  taking  cold.  Watch  against  over-exercise 
for  several  days  or  weeks.  Eat  very  moderately, 
and  at  regular  intervals,  of  plain,  nourishing  food. 
If  these  four  things  are  observed,  relapses  would 
be  rare,  and  the  patient  would  be  saved  ;  the  most 
difficult  of  the  four  is,  to  avoid  eating  too  much; 
there  is  special  danger  of  yielding  to  a  craving  for 
some  particular  kind  of  Ibod. 

Sleeping-rooms  should  be  selected  in  such  parts 
of  the  house  as  have  the  most  benefit  from  the  rays 
of  the  sun;  the  bed  and  bed-clothes  should  be 
thoroughly  aired,  and  kept  in  the  sun  as  long  as 
possible  every  day.  Many  of  the  sleeping-rooms  in 
our  hotels  are  so  situated  as  never  to  feel  the  influ- 
ence of  the  sun's  rays,  and  those  who  occupy  such 
rooms  for  any  length  of  time  are  simply  committing 
suicide. 

All  forms  of  exercise  may  be  made  hurtful  by 
injudiciousness ;  if  we  take  from  our  children  all 
recreations  which  may  be  abused,  we  sign  their 
death  warrant.  Exercise,  activity,  locomotion,  are 
to  the  young  a  necessity,  and  it  is  our  wisdom 
to  multiply  all  those  pastimes  which  encourage 
bodily  out-door  activities,  promote  the  circulation 
of  the  blood,  the  exhilaration  of  the  animal  spirits, 
and  the  enlivenment  of  the  mind. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  139 

No  man  can  study  advantageously  all  the  time : 
there  must  be  some  relaxation,  or  the  brain  will 
become  disorganized,  or  otherwise  hopelessly  dis- 
eased. No  man  ought  to  study  hard  on  one  subject 
more  than  four  hours  a  day,  and  give  ten  hours  to 
purposes  of  dressing,  sleeping,  and  eating,  leaving 
ten  hours  for  mental  recreation,  that  is,  mental  rest, 
which  is  done  in  two  ways:  first,  engaging  the 
mind  int  hinking  about  something  else  —  that  is, 
putting  other  organs  of  the  brain  to  work ;  second, 
engaging  in  muscular  motion,  which  does  good  in 
two  ways  —  it  works  out  of  the  system  the  waste 
particles  made  by  hard  thought,  and  thus  purifies 
the  blood,  fitting  it  for  building  up  the  brain,  repair- 
ing its  wastes,  making  it  ready  for  new  work. 

Do  nothing  remedially  without  your  doctor's 
consent. 

If  we  eat  just  enough,  both  mind  and  body  are 
invigorated ;  if  we  eat  too  little,  both  become  weak 
and  faint  —  the  body  trembles,  the  mind  is  inefii- 
cient ;  if  we  eat  too  much,  the  stomach  cannot 
eliminate  the  material  which  is  to  give  out  a  pure 
carbon,  and  it  then  gives  out  an  impure  article, 
and  mind  and  body  are  oppressed;  the  former 
loses  its  activity,  the  latter  its  vigor. 

Let  every  man  watch  over  his  habits ;  cultivate 
those  which  are  good,  break  off  from  those  which 
in  the  end  destroy  both  body  and  soul. 


140  DR.    hall's  114XIM8. 

Literary  and  professional  men  maintain  an  idJe 
theory  when  they  consider  every  moment  lost 
which  is  not  employed  in  reading,  writing,  or  in- 
vestigation ;  it  is  loss  of  time,  in  the  long  run, 
which  should  alarm  the  individual ;  it  is  the  cur- 
tailment of  human  life  for  ten,  tweiity,  and  even 
thirty  years,  which  should  startle  the  mind,  and 
lead  to  a  wiser  way  of  life.  Whoever  indulges  in 
brain-work  over  four  hours  a  day  habitually,  does 
in  proportion  shorten  his  life,  or  at  least  shortens 
the  term  of  his  usefulness :  this  is  a  great  general 
rule,  to  which  there  may  be  some  exceptions ;  but 
let  the  reader  take  it  for  granted  that  he  is  not 
one  of  those  exceptions ;  on  the  contrary,  what, 
ever  of  time  spent  in  muscular  activities,  beyond 
the  four  hours  of  brain-work,  adds  that  much  to 
the  probabilities  of  a  longer  life,  and  a  life,  too,  of 
greater  efficiency. 

There  are  pulses  all  over  the  body,  but  where 
there  is  only  skin  and  bone,  as  at  the  temples,  it  is 
more  easily  felt ;  the  wrist  is  the  most  convenient 
point.  The  feebleness  or  strength  of  the  beats  is 
not  material,  being  modified  by  the  fingers'  pres- 
sure. 

Cool  off  in  a  place  greatly  warmer  than  the  one 
in  which  you  have  be'en  exercising :  this  simple 
rule  would  prevent  incalculable  sickness,  and  save 
millions  of  lives  every  year. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  141 

Do  not  go  a  skating,  if  the  thermometer  has 
fallen  to  twenty  degrees  Fahrenheit;  nor  if  it  has 
fallen  to  thirty,  and  a  cold,  raw,  damp  wind  pre- 
vails. Do  not  be  on  skates  longer  than  an  hour  at 
a  time.  The  moment  you  cease  skating,  go  to  the 
file  and  rest;  but  while  on  the  ice,  keep  in  active 
motion.  When  you  start  home,  walk,  by  all  means, 
at  least  half  a  mile  ;  thus  the  circulation  of  the 
blood  will  be  equalized,  and  chilliness  will  be 
avoided.  Take  an  extra  coat  or  cloak,  to  be  laid 
aside  when  you  commence  skating,  and  to  be  re- 
sumed the  moment  you  cease. 

A  PALATABLE  and  safe  summer  drink  for  out- 
door workers,  is  water  of  the  natural  temperature, 
sweetened  with  molasses.  All  root  beers  are  per- 
nicious ;  for,  being  without  appreciable  nutriment, 
they  cannot  add  to  the  strength  of  the  body,  and 
their  value  is  deceptive. 

A  SLEEPING  apartment  should  be  always  on  the 
sunny  or  southern  side,  for  then  it  will  be  dry,  and 
warm,  and  cheerful ;  there  is  superabundance  of 
life  in  it. 

Peace  promotes  science,  art,  mechanism,  and  the 
accumulation  of  large  fortunes ;  while  the  increased 
thrift  which  long  peace  gives  any  community  af- 
fords the  members  of  it  more  time  for  reflection, 
and  for  the  contemplation  of  the  highest  truths 
which  can  engage  the  human  mind. 


142  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

When  clergymen  break  down,  or  public  men,  or 
professors  in  colleges,  or  other  literary  institutions, 
get  sick  and  die,  the  universal  cry  is, "  over-study," 
"  too  much  responsibility,"  "  too  much  mental  ap- 
plication." It  is  never  so ;  not  in  a  single  case 
since  the  world  began ;  we  defy  proof,  and  will 
open  our  pages  to  any  authenticated  case.  If  a 
man  will  give  himself  sleep  enough,  and  will  eat 
enough  nutritious  food  at  proper  intervals,  and 
will  spend  two  or  three  hours  in  the  open  air  every 
day,  he  may  study,  and  work,  and  write  until  he 
is  as  gray  as  a  thousand  rats,  and  will  be  still 
young  in  mental  vigor  and  clearness.  Where  is 
the  man  of  renown  who  lived  plainly,  regularly, 
temperately,  and  died  early  ? 

The  mind  can  kill  the  body.  Remorse  for  wrong- 
doing has  laid  mau}'^  a  victim  in  the  grave.  There 
are  mental  tortures  more  terrible  than  the  gallows 
or  the  guillotine.  Many  a  man  walks  the  earth  a 
living  skeleton,  because  the  fires  of  memory  are 
eating  him  up,  and  for  such  things  there  is  no  cure 
this  side  of  the  grave.  Prevention  is  the  great 
wisdom,  and  youth  the  time  for  its  application. 
The  rules  of  conduct  should  be,  Act  deliberately, 
do  nothing  for  revenge,  perish  rather  than  wrong 
another. 

Eat  regularly,  not  over  thrice  a  day,  and  noth 
ing  between  meals. 


DR.   hall's  maxims.  143 

Many  a  man  who  has  been  complaining  for  months 
of  being  sick,  and  has  fallen  into  laziness  and  dis- 
couragement, would  get  well  in  a  week,  if  he  was 
only  put  in  the  way  of  making  money  largely  as 
to  him  ;  that  is,  five  dollars  a  day  to  one  who  never 
earned  but  two,  and  a  hundred  to  another  who 
never  earned  but  ten.  Then,  again,  it  is  an  ad- 
ditional element  of  success,  if  there  is  an  intelli- 
gent or  scientific  interest  in  the  method. 

Life  is  chemical  operation,  death  is  the  absence 
of  it.  Every  breath  of  the  blessed  out-door  air 
drawn  into  our  lungs  is  full  freighted  with  oxygen ; 
this  oxygen  comes  in  all  its  purity  and  plenteous- 
nesa  from  the  sun.  In  every  ray  of  sunlight  there 
are  several  colors  ;  one  of  these  is  yellow,  and 
through  its  operation  on  the  world  about  us  oxy- 
gen is  derived. 

To  work  hard,  get  rich,  and  die  prematurely,  is 
the  sad  history  of  millions.  To  work  hard,  accu- 
mulate mono}",  and  live  healthily  and  long,  is  the 
glad  record  of  the  few. 

Cruelty  to  faithful  and  sagacious  animals  is  one 
of  the  meanest  and  cowardliest  of  crimes. 

It  is  well  to  give  mad  animals,  as  well  as  mad 
men,  a  wide  berth. 

Go  to  bed  at  regular  hours.  Get  up  as  soon  as 
you  wake  of  yourself. 


144  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

To  be  safe  from  a  meaner  fate  than  that  of  a 
thief,  never  use  one  cent  of  another's  money  with- 
out the  expHcit  consent  of  the  owner. 

To  be  free-minded  and  cheerfully  disposed  at 
hours  of  meat,  sleep,  and  exercise,  is  one  of  the 
best  precepts  for  long  lasting.  As  for  the  passions 
and  studies  of  the  mind,  avoid  envy,  envious  fears, 
anger,  fretting  inwards,  subtle  and  knotty  inquisi- 
tions, joy  and  exhilarations  in  excess,  sadness  not 
communicated.  Entertain  hopes  ;  mirth  rather 
than  joy ;  variety  of  delights  rather  than  surfeit  of 
them ;  wonder  and  admiration,  and  therefore  novel- 
ties ;  studies  that  fill  the  mind  with  splendid  and 
illustrious  objects  —  as  histories,  fables,  and  con- 
templations of  nature. 

Reader,  study  the  laws  of  life  and  health,  and 
obey  them,  and  you  will  soon  be  able  to  snap  your 
fingers  at  the  doctors. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  more  cases  of 
dangerous  and  fatal  disease  are  gradually  en- 
gendered annually  by  the  habit  of  sleeping  in 
small,  unventilated  rooms,  than  have  occurred  from 
a  cholera  atmosphere  during  any  year  since  it  made 
its  appearance  in  this  country. 

Soon  after  a  meal  is  eaten,  the  temperature  of 
the  stomach  is  slightly  increased,  digestion  goes  on 
healthily  and  well,  and  in  four  or  five  hours  the 
stomach  is  empty  again. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  145 

A  CLEAN  tooth  does  not  decay.  Acids,  sour 
firuits,  always  injure  the  teeth  instantly;  sweets 
never  do ;  without  them,  children  would  die,  hence 
their  insatiable  instincts  for  sugar.  If  a  tooth 
powder  was  never  used,  the  teeth  would  not  be  so 
white ;  but  kept  perfectly  clean,  would  last  for  life. 

"  Picking  the  ears  "  is  a  most  mischievous  prac- 
tice ;  in  attempting  to  do  this  with  hard  substances 
an  unlucky  motion  has  many  a  time  pierced  the 
drum  and  made  it  useless;  nothing  sharper  or 
harder  than  the  end  of  the  little  finger,  with  the 
nail  paired,  ought  ever  to  be  introduced  into  the 
ear,  unless  by  a  physician. 

He  who  attempts  to  elevate  himself  by  the  de- 
pression of  his  own  class,  calling,  or  profession,  lacks 
the  true  ring  of  a  noble  nature. 

Our  modes  of  life  must  be  adapted  to  our  age, 
our  occupation,  and  the  peculiarities  of  our  consti 
tution.  There  are  certain  general  principles  which 
are  applicable  to  all.  Every  man  should  be  regular 
in  his  habits  of  eating ;  should  have  all  the  sound 
sleep  which  nature  will  take ;  should  be  in  the  open 
air  an  hour  or  two  every  day,  when  practicable,  and 
should  have  a  pleasurable  and  an  encouragingly  re- 
munerative occupation. 

It  is  worth  the  effort  of  a  lifetime  to  be  able  to 
die  well ;  to  die  without  pain,  and  in  a  well-grounded 
hope  of  happiness  beyond. 
10 


146  DR.  hall'b  maxims. 

A  GOOD  wife  is  the  greatest  earthly  blessing.  A 
man  is  what  his  wife  makes  him.  It  is  the  mother 
who  moulds  the  character  and  destiny  of  the  child. 

It  is  a  melancholy  thing  to  know  that  so  many 
of  our  young  ladies  of  the  fashionable  world  should 
be  given  to  the  habit  of  painting  their  faces  at  all ; 
but  especially  of  using  dangerous  poisons,  and 
jeoparding  their  lives  and  health  for  the  sake  of 
producing  a  little  higher  color  on  their  cheeks,  or 
a  little  darker  eyebrows.  Young  ladies,  you  are 
injuring  your  heahh  by  the  use  of  these  poisonous 
cosmetics,  and  you  deceive  nobody.  You  make  as 
great  fools  of  yourselves  as  do  the  old  men  who 
dye  their  beards  and  hair. 

Our  theory  of  cure  is,  never  to  need  it.  So  live, 
that  you  will  never  be  sick.  It  is  far  easier  to  do 
this,  than  it  is  to  cuio  you  after  you  have  lost  your 
health. 

The  tyranny  which  the  dread  of  bad  marks  and 
failures  exercises  on  the  mind  of  the  children  of  the 
pubhc  schools  is  not  merely  severe,  it  is  terrible ; 
but  we  see  no  hope  of  a  change  until  the  parents 
become  wise  enough  to  care  at  least  as  much  for 
the  welfare  of  their  children  at  school  as  for  their 
canary  bird.4,  horses,  cats,  and  poodle  dogs. 

Any  kind  of  fluid  largely  taken  at  a  meal,  or  soon 
after,  is  positively  injurious  to  health. 


DH.  hall's  maxims.  147 

It  is  said  of  Americans  that  they  make  greiit  fools 
of  themselves  in  very  many  cases,  seeming  to  think 
that  the  more  money  they  spend  the  more  considera- 
tion will  be  shown  them  by  servants,  chamber- 
maids, bootblacks  and  the  like ;  hence  they  affect  first- 
class  hotels,  first-class  seats  in  railway  cars,  and  first- 
class  everything.  The  experience  of  many  travellers 
is,  that  there  is  more  comfort  and  better  attention 
to  be  had  at  se(tond  rate  hotels  than  at  those  which 
are  termed  first  rate. 

All  should  remember  that  not  the  least  import  an  1 
requisite  for  a  traveller  is  a  ready  sto(;k  of  good  tem- 
per and  forbearance.  Good  humor  will  procure  more 
comforts  than  gold. 

Rp:st  from  care,  from  business  anxiety,  from  dress 
and  the  needle,  from  the  conventionalities  of  society, — 
these  are  what  city  people  need  during  summer,  and 
they  most  certainly  are  not  to  be  had  at  the  seaside 
or  the  spa. 

The  best  possible  thing  for  a  man  to  do,  when  he 
feels  too  tired  to  perform  a  task,  or  too  weak  to  carry 
it  through,  is  to  go  to  bed  and  sleep. 

DivoRCiE,  neglect  of  marriage,  and  prevention  of 
offspring,  are  crimes  against  society,  humanity,  and 
God ;  and  the  only  efficient  prevention  of  these 
mischievous  practices  is  in  the  becoming  more  im- 
bued with  the  principles  inculcated  in  the  Scriptures 
of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments,  and  this  must  be 
begun  in  the  very  early  life  of  the  child. 


148  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

It  is  a  good  omen  that  intelligent,  reflecting,  and 
humane  teachers,  in  different  parts  of  the  country, 
are  beginning  to  make  personal  health  one  of  the 
branches  of  an  elementary  education.  Is  it  not 
wonderful  that  more  efficient  steps  have  not  been 
taken  in  that  direction  long  ago  ? 

If  you  are  very  wann,  perspiring  profusely,  and 
are,  very  properly,  afraid  of  cooling  off  too  quickly, 
fill  a  basin  three  parts  full  of  warm  water,  and  pad- 
dle the  hands  in  and  out ;  the  layer  of  water  touch- 
ing the  skin  is  converted  into  steam  the  moment 
the  hand  is  out  of  the  water,  thus  causing  a  rapid 
carrying  off  of  heat  by  evaporation ;  such  an  opera- 
tion is  perfectly  delightful  when  the  feet  and  hands 
are  dry  and  hot,  or  are  burning  with  fever. 

Infantile  vaccination  is  an  almost  perfect  safe- 
guard until  the  fourteenth  year.  Let  every  youth 
be  re-vaccinated  on  entering  fourteen.  Let  several 
attempts  be  made,  so  as  to  be  certain  of  safety. 

To  meet  at  the  breakfast  table  father,  mother, 
children,  all  well,  ought  to  be  a  happiness  to  any 
heart ;  it  should  be  a  source  of  humble  gratitude, 
and  should  wake  up  the  warmest  feehngs  of  our 
nature.  Shame  upon  the  contemptible  and  low- 
bred cur,  whether  parent  or  child,  who  can  ever 
come  to  the  breakfast  table,  where  all  the  family 
have  met  in  health,  only  to  frown,  whine,  growl, 
and  fret. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  149 

Did  you  ever  think  of  the  number  of  people  who 
are  making  their  living  out  of  those  who  are  either 
sick,  or  who  imagine  that  they  are  ?  The  doctors, 
regular  and  irregular,  the  quacks  and  druggists, 
wholesale  and  retail  ?  and  of  the  immense  quantity 
of  trash  that  is  daily  gulped  down  by  gullible  peo- 
ple? The  amount  of  money  which  is  paid  for 
medicines  in  any  one  day  in  the  city  of  New  York 
would  pay  the  expense  of  all  of  her  public  schools 
for  a  whole  year !  and  for  all  the  good  that  comes 
from  it,  nine  tenths  of  it  might  as  well  be  thrown 
into  the  river. 

Young  man,  "  stick  to  the  last."  Stick  to  your 
business;  the  business  you  were  brought  up  to. 
If,  in  looking  around  you,  you  see  others  seemingly 
getting  on  faster  than  you  are,  don't  blame  your 
business ;  it  is  not  the  fault  of  your  business,  if  it 
is  legitimate  and  useful ;  tlie  fault  is  in  yourself; 
put  more  energy  into  it.  Let  the  people  know  that 
you  are  living ;  let  the  people  know  what  you  are 
doing,  where  you  do  it,  and  that  you  do  it  well. 
We  really  do  not  know  of  any  business,  useful  in 
itself,  that  will  not  make  a  man  rich  in  a  large  city, 
or  even  a  small  one,  if  he  follows  it  well  and  keeps 
at  it,  for  every  day  makes  him  more  a  master  of 
his  calling ;  and  remember,  if  you  can't  succeed  in 
a  calling  which  you  know  all  about,  how  is  it  possi 
ble  for  you  to  succeed  in  one  which  you  know 
nothing  about? 


150  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

They  who  marry  for  physical  characteristics,  will 
fail  of  happiness ;  they  who  marry  for  traits  of  mind 
and  heart,  will  never  fail  of  perennial  springs  of 
domestic  enjoyment. 

The  instant  a  person  is  known  to  have  swallowed 
poison  by  design  or  accident,  give  water  to  drink, 
cold  or  warm,  as  fast  as  possible,  a  gallon  or  more 
at  a  time,  and  as  fast  as  vomited  drink  more  ;  tepid 
water  is  best,  as  it  opens  the  pores  of  the  skin  and 
promotes  vomiting,  and  thus  gives  the  speediest 
cure  to  the  poisonous  article.  If  pains  begin  to  be 
felt  in  the  bowels,  it  shows  that  part  at  least  of  the 
poison  has  passed  downwards ;  then  large  and  re- 
peated injections  of  tepid  water  should  be  given, 
the  object  in  both  cases  being  to  dilute  the  poison 
as  quickly  and  as  largely  as  possible.  Do  not  wait 
for  warm  water  —  take  that  which  is  nearest  at 
hand,  cold  or  warm,  for  every  second  of  time  saved 
is  of  immense  importance ;  at  the  same  time  send 
instantly  for  a  physician,  and  us  soon  as  he  comes, 
turn  the  case  into  his  hands,  telling  him  what  you 
have  done.  This  simple  fact  cannot  be  too  widely 
published ;  it  is  not  meant  to  say  tliat  drinking  a 
gallon  or  two  of  simple  water  will  cure  every  case 
of  poisoning,  but  it  will  cure  many,  and  benefit  all 
by  its  rapidly-diluting  quality. 

Evert  man  ought  to  have  his  family  physician, 
just  as  every  man  has  his  lawyer,  tailor,  or  cobbler. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  151 

A  LARGE  number  of  persons  evidently  consump- 
tive, will  be  found  on  inquiry  to  have  bad  a  hus- 
band, wile,  sister,  or  child  to  have  died  of  that 
disease.  Statistics  seem  to  show  that  a  wife  whose 
husband  is  consumptive,  is  more  liable  to  consump- 
tive disease  than  a  healthy  husband  with  a  con- 
sumptive wife ;  the  reason  of  this,  if  true,  will  sug- 
gest itself  to  the  thoughtful. 

If  a  man  is  fat  or  lean,  and  feels  well,  having  all 
the  bodily  functions  acting  regularly,  with  sound 
sleep  and  no  discomfort  after  eating,  he  should  by 
all  means  let  himself  alone. 

The  acquisition  of  knowledge  is  a  bliss  to  chil- 
dren, only  make  the  idea  plain,  and  its  reception 
easy. 

It  is  positively  dangerous  to  wash  the  face  in 
cold  water  when  much  heated.  It  is  not  danger- 
ous, but  pleasantly  efficacious,  if  warm  water  is 
used. 

If  a  lamp  or  candle,  or  a  very  httle  fire  is  kept 
burning  in  a  fireplace  at  night,  a  draught  is  created 
up  the  chimney,  by  which  the  foulest  air  in  the 
room  is  carried  out  with  great  rapidity. 

Brandy  kills  multitudes  every  year  who  enjoyed 
perfect  health  before  they  began  to  use  it ;  hence 
it  would  seem  fair  to  infer  that  it  will  kill  the  sick 
much  more  speedily. 


152  DR.  hall's  maxims.  . 

In  riding  in  vehicles  it  is  safer  to  raise  the  front 
glasses  instead  of  those  at  the  side  or  in  the  rear. 

Those  who  take  anodynes  to  promote  sleep,  in- 
stead of  procuring  it  by  moderate  bodily  activities 
in  the  open  air,  make  a  dangerous  experiment. 

After  a  child  is  three  months  old,  it  should  not 
be  allowed  to  sleep  in  the  same  bed  with  its  moth- 
er, but  in  a  crib  at  the  bedside,  where  it  should  be 
put  immediately  after  each  nursing ;  both  mother 
and  child  will  sleep  better  for  this  arrangement. 
Sometimes  children  seem  to  be  cured  of  summer 
complaint,  especially  if  connected  with  teething,  by 
being  allowed  to  chew  a  piece  of  bacon  well-cooked, 
that  is,  the  fat  part  of  it  attached  to  the  skin ;  they 
will  sometimes  chew  upon  this  for  half  an  hour  or 
more,  with  apparent  delight.  Benefit  has  been  de- 
rived by  cutting  up  raw  beef  fine,  pounded,  then 
put  in  a  rag  and  squeezed  out,  —  the  solid  part  re- 
maining —  to  be  eaten,  and  nothing  else,  a  teaspoon- 
fill  four  times  a  day,  and  drinking  but  very  httle 
of  anything  except  flaxseed  tea  or  barley  water. 
These  things  are  to  be  done  only  until  you  can  get 
a  physician.  It  is  horrible  to  think  of  a  parent 
groping  along  in  the  dark,  on  his  or  her  own  re- 
sponsibility, when  the  life  of  a  child  is  at  stake. 

The  good  things  of  this  life  were  certainly  made 
to  be  enjoyed  rationally,  temperately,  thankfull"-. 
and  lovingly  towards  Him  who  supplies  them  all. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  153 

The  public  ought  to  be  advised  that  all  "sooth- 
ing syrups,"  and  all  preparations  o!  opium,  lauda- 
num, paregoric,  and  the  like,  have  a  direct  tenden- 
cy, in  all  cases  of"  summer  complaint  in  children, 
to  abate  the  symptoms,  only  to  induce  a  protracted 
recovery,  convulsions,  or  water  on  the  brain. 

Let  parents  and  teachers  be  warned,  never  to 
strike  it  an  unresisting  ciiild  in  anger;  it  is  a  cow- 
ardice, a  biutality,  and  a  crime. 

Thk  best  time  lor  recreation,  as  to  body  or  brain, 
is  the  after  part  of  the  day,  when  the  main  business 
bf  life  has  been  attended  to;  thus  resting  the 
working  faculties,  while  exercising  those  which 
have  been  idle ;  thus  giving  occupation  each  day 
for  the  whole  man. 

Persons  who  are  starved  to  death  become  idiotic 
towards  the  last,  because  there  is  not  nourishment 
in  the  blood  to  feed  the  brain,  to  keep  up  its  ac- 
tivities. 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  there  may  be 
worms  in  all  kinds  of  meats,  although  the  populai 
impression  is  that  they  are  found  only  in  the  meat 
of  the  pig.  It  is  now  certainly  known  that  tri 
chiniasis,  as  it  is  called,  arises  from  eating  raw 
pork,  and  that  the  certain  prevention  is  the  thor- 
ough cooking  of  pork,  ham,  or  bacon  in  all  its 
forms. 


154  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

It  is  customary  to  put  an  open  vessel  of  water  on 
a  stove,  to  prevent  the  air  of  a  room  in  winter  from 
getting  too  dry  ;  thus,  by  filhng  tlie  air  witli  steam, 
it  is  rendered  just  as  much  less  nutritious  to  the 
lungs  and  blood  as  if  filled  to  that  extent  with  tlie 
fumes  from  a  dead  carcass.  This  damp  atmosphei-e 
has  something  of  a  steaming  process  on  the  skin, 
and  thus  renders  the  person  extremely  liable  to 
take  cold  as  soon  as  he  goes  into  the  open  air.  We 
want  the  air  of  a  stove-room  ventilated,  changed 
for  pure  air  from  without,  not  to  fill  it  with  the 
vapor  of  water.  The  only  way  yet  known  to  im- 
prove the  air  of  any  room  warmed  by  artificial 
heat,  is  to  open  a  door  or  window  from  time  to 
time,  as  while  the  family  are  at  table  eating  their 
regular  meals. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  working  of  a  sewing-ma- 
chine calculated  to  impair  the  health ;  the  labor  is 
uniform,  not  excessive,  nor  calculated  to  overstrain 
any  of  the  muscles  of  the  system.  A  contrary  view 
was  taken  at  one  time,  but  it  was  formed  from  in- 
complete observations,  and  a  want  of  care  in  ascer- 
taining all  the  I'acts  in  given  cases.  The  motion  of 
the  feet  promotes  the  circulation,  and  tends  to  keep 
them  warm ;  the  motion  of  the  fingers  invites  the 
blood  to  the  extremities,  which  all  admit  is  a  health- 
ful operation,  while  the  necessity  of  adjusting  the 
work  keeps  the  mind  on  the  alert. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  155 

The  man  or  woman  who  comes  to  the  family 
table  with  a  scowl,  is  a  brute  in  nature,  and  only 
wants  opportunity  to  bring  out  his  littleness  and 
his  meanness. 

No  one  should  work  or  study  hard  within  half 
an  hour  of  a  regular  meal. 

If  a  man,  sick  or  well,  comes  home  to  his  dinner 
cold,  hungry,  wearied,  and  worried,  a  cup  of  hot 
tea,  drank  during  the  fore  part  of  the  meal,  is  of 
great  physiological  benefit,  for  it  warms  up  the 
system  by  the  heat  of  the  beverage  being  conveyed 
direct  to  the  centre  of  life ;  it  rouses  the  stomach 
to  healthful  action ;  it  arrests  the  depressing  and 
failing  powers  of  life,  energizes  the  circulation,  and 
wakes  up  the  activities  of  the  brain  and  moral  sen- 
timents. 

Do  not  bathe  within  two  hours  of  eating  a  full 
meal ;  death  has  often  resulted  from  inattention  to 
this  rule.  Cold-water  baths  are  Imrtful,  under  all 
circumstances,  to  very  young  or  very  old  people ; 
to  invalids,  to  consumptives,  to  those  subject  to 
spitting  blood.  It  is  the  safest  rule  that  a  woman 
should  never  take  a  cold  bath  other  than  to  rub  the 
whole  surface  quickly  with  a  soft  towel,  dipped  in 
water  pressed  out ;  lay  the  towel  smooth  on  the 
hand,  and  rub  quickly  the  whole  body,  within  ten 
minutes. 


156  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

AxL  radical  reforms  aim  at  prevention,  mthei 
than  rectification. 

If  alcohol  is  food,  why  not  give  it  to  our  horses  ? 
If  liquor  fattens,  why  not  give  it  to  our  beef  cattle, 
our  turkeys,  and  our  pigs  —  a  good  dram  of  it 
night  and  morning  ? 

Men  may  live  long,  and  in  health,  who  never 
taste  meat,  but  they  never  can  excel  in  anything 
which  requires  energy.  The  nations  which  eat  no 
meat,  as  to  the  masses,  are  always  inefficient  or  de- 
graded. The  hundreds  of  millions  of  Japan  and 
China  have  failed  in  the  centuries  of  the  past  in 
aU  that  makes  a  nation  or  an  individual  grand  in 
conception,  or  magnificent  in  accomplishment. 
They  are  to-day,  what  they  were  ages  ago,  and 
they  live  mainly  on  rice  and  other  vegetables. 
The  most  of  the  Irish,  at  home,  live  chiefly  on 
potatoes,  and  multitudes  who  reach  our  shores  are 
but  a  short  remove  from  idiots ;  they  have  brute 
force,  but  are  mentally  deficient  in  all  that 
elevates. 

If  a  man  can  sleep  soundly,  has  a  good  appetite, 
with  no  unpleasant  reminders  after  meals,  the 
bodily  habits  being  regular  every  day,  he  had  bet 
ter  let  himself  alone ;  whether  he  is  as  big  as  a 
hogshead,  or  as  thin  and  dry  as  a  fence  rail. 

Reading  aloud  helps  to  develop  the  lungs,  juBt 
as  singing  does  if  properly  performed. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  167 

Doing  too  much,  and  doing  nothing,  are  equaJ 
suicides ;  recreation  is  as  much  a  necessity  as  appli- 
cation, and  they  are  wisest  who  enjoy,  as  well  as 
work. 

Poetry,  and  all  about  an  old  miser. 

"  A  cautious  look  around  he  stole, 
His  bags  of  chink  he  chunk ; 
And  many  a  wicked  smile  he  smole, 
And  many  a  wink  he  wunk." 

Sometimes  it  is  desirable  to  give  medicine  una- 
wares, and  let  the  patient  find  it  out  afterwards ; 
so,  in  quoting  the  above,  we  have  administered 
a  pill  of  laugh ;  for  whoever  could  refrain  from  a 
loud  laugh,  on  reading  the  miser's  lines,  hasn't  as 
much  fun  in  him  as  the  little  urchin,  who,  seeing  a 
little  mouse  come  down  the  bell-rope,  and  commence 
tugging  at  the  schoolmaster's  gown  while  kneel- 
ing at  prayer,  burst  out  into  an  uncontrollable  fit  of 
laughter.  The  domine  was  greatly  put  out,  and 
threatened  dire  punishment,  unless  the  little  fellow 
could  explain  himself  in  poetry ;  whereupon  he  im- 
promptued  the  following  rhyme  :  — 

"A  little  mouse,  for  want  of  stairs, 
Came  down  the  rope  to  say  his  prayers." 

The  same  little  boy  afterwards  became  Isaac  Watts. 

He  is  the  grandest  man  who  is  willing  to  investi- 
gate any  proposition  with  calmness,  and  to  be  led 
wherever  truth  directs. 


158  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

In  apoplexy,  as  there  is  too  much  blood  in  the 
head,  every  one  can  see  that  the  best  position  is  to 
set  a  man  up,  and  the  blood  naturall}-  tends  down- 
wards, as  much  so  as  water  will  come  out  of  a  bot- 
tle when  turned  upside  down  if  the  cork  is  out. 

The  people  of  the  world,  who  live  mainly  on 
meats,  and  whose  civilization  commands  the 
varieties  of  all  climes,  these  are  they  who  take 
the  lead  in  all  human  enterprises,  which  secure 
results  at  once  magnificent  and  astounding  in 
physical  accomplisliments  and  mental  acquire- 
ments. 

It  is  in  connection  with  the  table  that  a  vast 
number  of  drunkards  are  made;  this  host 
would  be  cut  off  at  once  if  only  tea  and  coffee 
were  drank. 

One  third  of  all  the  children  born  die  before 
they  are  two  years  old,  and  three  fourths  of  these 
perish  unnecessarily  —  perish  as  a  consequence  of 
the  neglect  or  ignorance  of  mothers.  Most  infanta 
are  physicked  and  fed  to  death.  No  medicine 
whatever,  not  the  modest  "  catnip  tea,"  should  be 
given  to  an  infant,  without  the  direction  of  the 
family  physician. 

Every  man  believes  that  consumption  is  an  in- 
curable disease,  until  he  has  it  himself;  and  even 
then  he  does  not  arrive  at  the  conviction  until  the 
day  before  he  dies. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  159 

Some  of  the  most  terrible  of  all  diseases  are  in- 
duced by  eating  cold  food  habitually.  Hence  tea 
and  coffee  should  be  used  hot,  and  it  would  be 
wicked,  at  least  for  the  old,  and  frail,  and  feeble, 
and  overworked,  not  to  use  them  at  meals  when 
they  can  get  them.  The  essential  element  of  tea 
and  coffee  has  the  inevitable  effect  on  tlie  human 
system  of  enlivening,  of  invigorating  Itoth  mind 
and  body  for  the  time,  and  thus,  when  weary  and 
hungry,  elevates  the  whole  man  to  the  condition  of 
receiving  and  managing  the  food  eaten ;  that  is, 
promotes  digestion  thereby ;  hence  tea  and  coffee 
at  our  meals  are  good  digesters. 

Fruits  have  their  best  effect  when  used  in  the 
early  part  of  the  day ;  hence,  we  do  not  advise 
their  employment  at  a  later  hour  than  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon ;  not  that,  if  perfect  and  ripe, 
they  may  not  be  eaten  largely  by  themselves  witliiu 
two  hours  of  bed  time  with  advantage ;  but  if  the 
sourness  of  decay  should  happen  to  taint  them,  or 
any  liquor  should  inadvertently  be  largely  drank 
afterwards,  even  cold  water,  acidity  of  the  whole 
mass  may  follow,  resulting  in  a  night  of  distress, 
if  not  actual  or  dangerous  sickness.  So  it  is  better 
not  to  run  the  risk. 

To  eat  wisely,  we  must  adapt  our  food  to  our 
age,  to  the  various  occupations  and  callings  of  life, 
and  to  the  temperaments  o\  the  system. 


160  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

The  best  position  in  which  to  go  to  sleep  is  on 
the  right  side  ;  the  heart  being  on  the  left,  it  has 
greater  freedom  of  action  than  when  the  weight 
of  that  part  of  the  body  is  on  it. 

The  muscular  strength  of  a  Nation  depends 
upon  the  proper  use  and  proportions  of  the  various 
kinds  of  food  eaten;  and  it  has  been  well  said  that 
the  political  influence  of  a  Nation  is  as  much  de- 
pendent upon  the  muscular  strength  of  the  people 
as  upon  their  intelligence  and  commercial  activity. 
Englishmen  and  roast  beef  are  synonymous  ;  and 
for  centuries  past  the  English  Nation  has  been  the 
most  powerful,  the  most  influential  Nation  on  the 
globe  ;  a  long-lived,  intellectual,  and  powerful  race, 
as  to  the  individuals  composing  it,  founded  on 
vigorous  "  health,"  as  a  result  of  "  good  living." 

All  who  employ  workers,  should  understand 
that  it  is  a  poor  economy  to  stint  them  at  the  table. 
The  man  who  eats  the  most  can  do  the  most  work, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  the  power  to  work  is 
obtained  from  the  food  we  eat,  and  cannot  be  had 
from  any  other  source. 

Athletes  and  prize-fighters  do  not  often  live 
long ;  the  training  process,  of  itself,  is  a  strain 
upon  the  constitution  and  the  powers  of  life.  All 
violences  and  shocks  to  the  human  body  are  as 
certainly  injurious  as  such  things  would  be  to  any 
machine  made  by  human  hands. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  161 

Many  a  traveller  will  save  his  life  by  taking  a 
warm  and  hearty  breakfast  before  starting  in  the 
morning,  and  by  putting  up  for  the  night  not  later 
than  sundown. 

"  Help  one  another,"  is  the  spontaneous  aspira* 
tion  of  every  noble  nature,  of  every  generous 
bosom.  The  great  ensample  of  all  ages,  in  a 
work  so  literally  godlike,  is  found  in  Him  "  who 
died  that  we  might  live,"  and  they  are  best  en- 
titled to  kinship  with  Him  who  most  closely  fol- 
low His  footsteps. 

Up  to  forty-five  the  bodily  constitution  is  knit, 
is  built  up,  is  consolidated  by  wise  labors,  if  the 
mind  also  is  kept  in  the  exercise  of  healthful 
activities.  The  same  hard  labor  after  forty-five, 
so  far  from  building  up,  destroys ;  but  while  that 
is  the  case,  mental  toil  builds  up  the  body,  and 
its  efiect  is  to  increase  the  capability  of  living. 
Hence,  a  man  who  works  his  body  pretty  hard,  and 
his  mind  rather  more  moderately,  up  to  forty-five, 
has  done  most  towards  securing  a  lasting  constitu- 
tion ;  and  if  then  he  begins  to  work  the  body  less, 
and  the  mind  more,  he  adds  to  that  lastingness, 
and  bids  fairest  to  live  to  eighty  or  a  hundred 
years. 

In  ordinary  breathing,  a   man   takes   into    his 
lungs,  at  one  inspiration,  about  a  pint  of  air.     It 
enters  pure,  and  is  returned  destitute  of  life. 
11 


162  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

In  cholera.^  and  all  epidemics,  the  liquor  drinkers 
are  the  first  to  die. 

The  pure  out-door  air  is  the  natural  food  of  the 
lungs ;  when  deprived  of  the  required  amount, 
they  always  become  diseased ;  and  not  only  is 
consumption  ameliorated,  but  all  diseases  are 
benefited  in  proportion  as  the  patient  is  able  to 
breathe  pure  air. 

If  a  man  is  hungry  within  an  hour,  more  or  lese, 
after  a  regular  meal,  he  is  a  dyspeptic  beyond 
question,  and  it  shows  that  the  stomach  is  not  able 
to  work  up  what  he  has  eaten,  so  as  to  get  nourish- 
ment out  of  it ;  but  to  eat  again,  and  thus  impose 
more  work,  when  it  could  do  nothing  for  what  had 
been  already  eaten,  is  an  absurdity  ;  and  yet  all 
dyspeptics  who  eat  whenever  they  are  hungry  do 
this  very  thing,  and  thus  aggravate  and  protract 
their  sufierings. 

The  great  end  of  human  life  is  to  secure  an  ex- 
istence beyond  the  grave,  high,  holy,  happy,  and 
immortal.  The  great  wisdom  of  human  life  is  to 
do  all  that  is  possible  to  attain  that  existence,  each 
for  himself.  The  great  beneficence  of  human  life 
is  to  do  all  that  can  be  done,  consistently  with 
other  duties,  to  help  one  another  to  attain  an  object 
of  such  infinite  importance,  especially  the  children 
bom  to  us. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  163 

As  a  vigorous  and  healthful  appetite  and  diges- 
tion are  the  inevitable  results  of  labor  performed 
day  after  day,  a  labor  which  secures  an  encourag 
ing  remuneration,  so  healthful,  sweet,  delicious 
sleep  can  only  come  as  a  consequence  of  compul- 
sory mental  or  physical  effort. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  health  and  life  are  lost 
every  day,  as  the  result  of  the  ill  management  of 
our  schools,  seminaries,  colleges,  and  universities, 
but  most  of  all,  the  primary  schools;  because, 
mainly,  learning  is  made  a  task,  a  drudge,  an  in- 
sufferable bore. 

The  air  which  comes  in  contact  with  the  fur- 
nace is  burnt ;  it  is  in  part  decomposed,  and  is  no 
longer  fit  for  purposes  of  healthful  respiration. 
Whenever  air  comes  in  contact  with  a  nearly 
or  quite  red-hot  metallic  surface,  it  is  no  longer 
fit  to  enter  the  lungs  of  any  thing  that  breathes, 
and  18  instantly  detected  by  the  feeling  which  is 
expressed  by  the  term  "  closeness."  The  air  has 
in  it  such  a  small  amount  of  living  sustenance, 
that  an  ordinary  quantity  taken  through  the  nos- 
trils is  not  enough,  and  the  person  instinctively 
opens  the  mouth,  literally  gasps  for  more,  as  a  fish 
for  water,  when  thrown  out  of  its  native  element. 

It  is  a  bad  plan  to  ride,  when  you  could  just  as 
V¥ell  walk. 


164  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

White  India  rubber,  as  used  in  nursing-bottlea 
for  infants,  contains  an  active  poisonous  ingredient, 
causing  sore  mouth,  eruption,  and  even  death  in 
some  cases ;  its  sale  is,  on  this  account,  prohibited 
by  law  in  some  European  countries.  Toys  of  this 
material  should  be  carefully  kept  from  young  chil- 
dren, whose  instinct  prompts  them  to  put  every- 
thing in  the  mouth  which  is  handed  them. 

It  ought  to  be  known,  as  a  world-wide  truth, 
that,  of  itself,  bard  study  kills  nobody. 

To  compel  any  child  under  twelve,  to  sit  or  stand 
perfectly  still  for  ten  minutes,  is  a  barbarism ;  be- 
cause it  is  the  motion  of  the  muscles  which  aids  to 
send  the  blood  to  the  heart ;  and  if  they  are  quiet 
too  long,  the  blood  goes  to  the  heart  in  too  small 
quantities  to  keep  it  in  action,  hence  it  stops 
beating,  and  the  person  is  said  to  "  faint."  So 
necessary  is  motion  to  the  circulation  of  the  blood, 
that  even  in  our  sleep  Nature's  ever  watchful  in- 
stincts cause  a  change  of  position  every  few  mo- 
ments, either  in  the  body  or  some  of  the  limbs. 

How  many  a  youth  at  school,  how  many  an 
apprentice  in  the  shop,  how  many  a  child  in  the 
family,  has  gone  out  in  the  night  of  a  blighted  life, 
who,  with  humane  encouragements,  might  have 
lived  usefully  ani  died  famous,  let  the  passionate 
teacher,  and  master,  and  parent  inquire,  and  do 
ft  little  more  patting  on  the  shoulder. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  165 

Lead  colic  is  a  disease  to  which  painters,  and 
workers  in  red  and  white  lead,  are  subject,  causing 
severe  pains,  tedious  sickness,  and  often  death. 
The  disease  is  partially  owing  perhaps  to  breathing 
the  fumes,  but  mainly  from  particles  taken  into  the 
stomach  by  the  food  which  is  handled.  Workmen 
can  effect  a  total  exemption  from  the  disease  by 
attending  rigidly  to  three  things.  Keep  the  finger 
nails  trimmed  closely,  so  as  to  prevent  particles  of 
lead  from  collecting  under  them,  and  transference 
to  the  bread  in  eating  it.  Wash  the  hands  well 
with  soap  and  water,  and  rinse  the  mouth  before 
eating.  Drink  half  a  pint  of  sweet  milk  at  each 
meal,  to  antagonize  the  influence  of  any  particles 
of  lead  which  may  find  their  way  into  the  stomach. 
It  has  been  found,  in  thousands  of  cases,  that  an 
habitual  attention  to  these  things  secures  an  entire 
exemption  from  lead  colic. 

There  are  times  of  weakness  to  us  all,  perhaps, 
when  the  conviction  comes  sweeping  over  us  that 
it  is  impossible  to  succeed  in  business  and  be  hon- 
est. And  yet  a  little  closer  examination  into  the 
histories  of  men  will  show  triumphantly  that 
honesty  pays. 

Any  one  —  the  feeblest  —  can  commit  an  error, 
it  requires  a  man  to  frankly  acknowledge  it. 

Clergymen's  sore  throat  is  wrongfully  set  dowD 
to  the  score  of  "  arduous  labors  1 " 


166  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Almost  every  article  of  hair  dye  contaiDs,  in 
greater  or  less  quantity,  the  most  poisonous  prepa- 
rations of  lead,  which  are  absorbed  into  the  scalp 
and  lower  face,  become  incorporated  with  the  blood, 
and  engender  painful,  incurable,  and  disgusting 
diseases.  It  is  said,  in  one  of  the  French  lunatic 
asylums  eight  per  cent,  of  the  victims  were  users 
of  hair  dye.  Gray  hairs  add  dignity  to  man ;  those 
who  are  ashamed  of  age,  and  seek  to  conceal  it  in 
these  ways,  can  scarcely  claim  the  respect  of  their 
kind ;  and  it  would  be  wiser  in  them  to  be  ashamed 
of  their  shallowness  than  of  their  age. 

A  COLD  is  never  cured ;  and  yet  we  have  millions 
of  remedies  published  every  year  which  will  cure  a 
cold.  A  cold  cures  itself.  That  is,  a  man  gets  well 
of  a  cold,  as  he  gets  weU  of  the  small-pox,  but  we 
do  not  remember  ever  to  have  heard  of  a  man  being 
cured  of  the  small-pox ;  this  fearful  malady  runs  its 
course,  and  the  man  gradually  regains  his  health. 
So  a  common  cold,  fairly  seated,  will  run  its  average 
course  of  two  weeks,  and  then  the  man  is  as  well 
as  he  ever  was. 

If  a  man  is  deprived  of  sunlight,  he  fades  away 
like  a  flower  without  water,  and  always  comes  to  an 
untimely  grave. 

The  prevention,  the  permanent  arrest,  or  lasting 
cure  of  consumption,  is  found  "  in  the  food  we  eat 
—  in  the  air  we  breathe." 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  167 

Everybody  ought  to  get  married  who  can  boas/ 
of  three  things  —  a  sound  body,  a  sound  mind,  and 
a  good  trade.  This  as  to  men,  and  as  to  women, 
they  should  possess  good  health,  tidiness,  and  in 
dustry.  Witli  tliese,  any  young  couple  can  get  as 
rich  as  they  ought  to  be,  or  as  rich  as  is  necessary 
to  an  enjoyable  life,  if  they  will  only  go  to  house- 
keeping a  little  below  their  ability. 

The  importance  of  being  out  of  doors  every  day 
as  much  as  possible,  can  scarcely  be  overrated. 
But  to  derive  the  highest  advantage  from  breathing 
an  outrdoor  air,  the  person  should  exercise  enough 
to  keep  off  a  feeling  of  chilliness,  but  not  so  much 
as  to  cause  unnatural  breathing  —  that  is,  too  fast 
or  too  deep. 

The  young  should  have  the  courage  to  live  within 
their  means ;  to  have  more  pride  in  the  conscious- 
ness that  they  have  a  little  spare  money  at  home, 
than  in  living  in  a  style  which  keeps  them  all  the 
time  cramped  in  maintaining.  Better  to  live  in  one 
room  with  all  the  furniture  your  own,  than  occupy 
a  whole  house  with  scarcely  a  chair  or  table  paid 
for. 

To  all  young  men,  who  aim  to  do  good  on  a  largo 
scale,  we  say  most  earnestly.  Nurse  your  constitu- 
tion with  pious  care,  invigorate  it ;  study  to  b« 
well,  as  the  necessary  means  of  doing  well,  in  thi 
highest  Bense  of  the  term. 


168  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

All  kinds  of  life,  whether  vegetable  or  animal, 
have  within  them  a  principle  of  preservation,  as 
well  as  of  perpetuity;  were  that  not  the  case, 
all  that  breathes  or  grows  would  die. .  This  principle 
or  quality  is  common  to  man  and  beast,  and  all  that 
springs  from  root  or  seed :  it  is  named  "  Instinct." 
It  is  instinct  which  calls,  by  tliirst,  for  water  when 
there  is  not  fluid  enough  in  the  system.  It  is 
instinct  which  calls  for  food,  by  hunger,  when  a 
man  is  weak,  and  needs  renovation.  It  is  curious 
and  practically  valuable  as  a  means  for  the  removal 
of  disease,  to  notice  the  working  of  this  instinct, 
for  it  seems  to  be  almost  possessed  with  a  discrimi- 
nating intelligence ;  certain  it  is,  that  standard 
medical  publications  give  well-authenticated  facts, 
showing,  that  following  the  cravings  of  the  appetite, 
the  animal  instinct  has  accomplished  far  more  than 
the  physician's  skill  was  able  to  do ;  has  saved  life 
in  multitudes  of  cases,  when  science  has  done  its 
best,  but  in  vain. 

Equanimity  of  mind  is  the  great  catholicon  of 
humanity.  Let  all  who  would  have  length  of  days, 
whatever  may  be  their  station  in  life,  strive  for  an 
equable  frame  of  mind. 

Persons  have  often  lost  their  lives  by  writing 
or  reading  in  a  room  where  there  was  no  fire,  al 
though  the  weather  outside  was  rather  comfortable. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  169 

Happy  they  who  are  wise  enough  to  perceive, 
and  feel,  and  enjoy  life's  sunshines  while  they  are 
present.  There  are  many  who  not  only  have  not 
enjoyed  their  sunshine,  were  not  conscious  of  ita 
presence,  but  when  it  has  passed,  make  life  misera- 
ble in  the  vain  regrets  of  not  having  appreciated 
and  improved  it  while  it  was  passing. 

It  is  productive  of  a  great  deal  of  domestic 
enjoyment  to  have  a  man  and  wife  working  to  the 
same  end,  having  a  common  object  in  view,  whether 
it  be  to  save  up  money  enough  to  buy  a  new  chair 
or  a  neighbor's  adjoining  farm.  It  is  thus  that  they 
grow  into  the  feeling  that  they  are  one,  that  their 
interests  are  united,  and  they  soon  begin  to  work 
into  each  other's  hands  ;  the  wife  seeks  to  make  the 
husband's  task  easier,  knowing  that  it  enables  him 
to  do  more  for  her,  and  that  the  common  object 
will  be  the  sooner  attained;  the  husband  seeing 
this,  reciprocates,  and  loves  the  more,  day  by  day, 
until  they  become  one  in  aim,  and  feelings,  and 
sentiments ;  and  a  love  more  abiding  as  the  years 
grow  old,  is  the  happy  result. 

Tobacco,  in  any  form,  is  not  only  a  narcotic,  but 
it  is  a  stimulant  also ;  it  not  only  blunts  the  sensi- 
bilities,  but  it  goads  both  mind  and  body  to  unnat- 
ural activities,  and  the  machine,  made  to  run  faster 
than  was  ever  intended,  wears  out  so  much  the 
Booner,  and  long  before  its  time,  and  stops  foreyer  I 


170  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Christianity  cherishes  leurniug  ;  learniug  estab- 
lishes Cliristianity.  The  head  and  the  aeart  are 
cultivated  together ;  side  by  side  they  grow ;  the 
one  in  purity,  the  other  in  power  ;  and  fast  friends 
will  they  be  until  time's  ending ;  making  on  the 
earth,  meanwhile,  gardens  out  of  every  desert, 
scattering  flowers  where  only  thorns  grew  before, 
and  clearing  away  from  every  physical  and  moral 
waste  the  blots  and  blurs  which  mar  tlie  beauty 
of  the  material  and  moral  world. 

Let  the  young,  and  all  remember,  that  it  is  the 
motive  which  constitutes  the  meanness,  or  other- 
wise, of  an  act  which  is  not  in  itself  dishonorable. 
Better  is  it  for  a  man  to  do  a  tiling  for  himself, 
than  to  have  another  do  it  for  him,  when  he  cannot 
afford  to  pay  for  the  service.  The  first  step  to- 
wards implanting  in  the  mind  of  a  child  a  feeling 
of  self-reliance  and  a  manly  independence,  is  to 
teach  that  child  to  help  himself  whenever  it  is 
practicable. 

The  great,  broad  fact  is  indisputable,  that  the 
great  nations  of  the  earth,  those  who  live  in  the 
north  temperate  zone,  and  who  make  the  products 
of  all  climes  tributary  to  their  tables,  which  are 
bountifully  spread  with  the  meats,  and  fish,  and 
fruits,  and  vegetables  of  all  lands  and  seas,  are  the 
greatest  in  the  aggregate,  while  individually  they 
have  produced  the  greatest  names  in  all  history. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  171 

Sleeping  in  rooms  long  unused  has  destroyed 
the  life  of  many  a  visitor  and  friend.  Our  splen- 
did parlors,  and  our  nice  "  spare  rooms,"  help 
to  enrich  many  a  doctor.  The  cold  sepulchral 
parlors,  from  May  until  November,  bring  disease, 
not  only  to  visitors,  but  to  the  visited  ;  for  coming 
in  from  domestic  occupations,  or  from  the  hurry 
of  dressing,  the  heat  of  the  body  is  higher  than 
natural,  and  having  no  cloak  or  hat  on  in  going  in 
to  meet  a  visitor,  and  having  in  addition  but  little 
vitality,  in  consequence  of  the  very  sedentary 
nature  of  town  life,  there  is  but  very  little  capa- 
bility of  resistance,  and  a  chill  and  cold  is  the 
result. 

When  a  person  takes  a  cold,  the  natural  remedy 
would  seem  to  be,  to  take  a  warm ;  that  is,  get 
warm  and  keep  warm  for  every  second  of  time ; 
keep  comfortably  warm,  even  if  it  requires  the 
thermometer  to  be  kept  at  a  hundred  degrees; 
and  maintain  this  temperature,  and  remain  in  a 
well  warmed  and  ventilated  room  until  restored  to 
usual  health. 

The  rich  can't  get  to  sleep  ;  the  poor  can't  wake 
up ;  that  is,  would  oversleep  themselves,  if  their 
necessities  did  not  wake  them. 

A  BED  should  always  be  made  several  hours  be- 
fore sundown,  before  it  has  had  time  to  gather  the 
damps  of  the  evening. 


172  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Parents,  as  you  can  never  tell  that  any  night 
shall  not  be  the  last  on  earth,  however  well  the  child 
may  seem  on  retiring,  and  that  it  shall  not  wake 
up  to  a  brain  fever,  or  dreaded  croup,  or  the  more 
fearful  diphtheria,  or  putrid  sore  throat,  be  per- 
suaded to  make  a  habitual  and  systematic  arrange- 
ment by  which  each  child  shall  retire  to  its  little 
bed  with  a  feeling  of  affectionate  lovingness  to- 
wards you ;  that  no  harsh  word,  or  look,  or  incon- 
siderate act  of  yours  shall  ruffle  its  little  heart,  and 
cause  it  to  turn  its  face  to  the  wall  against  you.  Your 
indifferent,  stereotyped,  matter-of-course  kiss  is  a 
cruel  hypocrisy.  The  little  creatures  perceive  it 
by  an  instinct,  and  they  lie  down  with  an  unde- 
fined dissatisfaction.  If  you  do  not  feel  a  kiss,  do 
not  commit  the  atrocity  of  a  mere  form,  but  go  and 
pray  God  to  give  you  a  better  heart. 

There  is,  perhaps,  not  an  eminent  physician  in 
any  system  of  practice,  who  will  not  declare,  with 
a  distinguished  medical  practitioner,  now  deceased  ; 
"I  believe  that  during  the  twenty-six  years  I 
have  followed  my  profession  in  this  city,  twenty 
thousand  children  have  been  carried  to  the  ceme- 
teries, a  sacrifice  to  the  absurd  custom  of  exposing 
their  arms  naked." 

Let  every  man  watch  over  his  habits,  cultivate 
those  which  are  good,  break  off  from  those  which 
in  the  end  destroy  both  body  and  soul. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  173 

To  know  when  and  how  to  follow  the  instinct  of 
appetite,  to  gratify  the  cravings  of  nature,  is  of 
inestimable  value.  There  is  a  rule  which  is  always 
safe,  and  will  save  life  in  multitudes  of  cases, 
where  the  most  skilfully  "  exhibited  "  drugs  have 
been  entirely  unavailing.  Partake  at  first  of  what 
Nature  seems  to  crave,  in  very  small  quantities  ;  if 
no  uncomfortable  feeling  follows,  gradually  increase 
the  amount,  until  no  more  is  called  for. 

Many  persons  precipitate  themselves  into  the 
grave  by  attempting  to  bravado  an  ailment ;  to  be 
up  and  about  in  defiance  of  it.  If  anything  at  all 
is  the  matter  with  a  man  which  is  really  disquiet- 
ing, he  should  at  least  have  as  much  sense  as  a  pig, 
and  go  and  lie  down  ;  pigs  are  not  such  fools  as 
to  move  about  in  pain. 

How  to  cure  a  cold  promptly,  is  a  question  of 
life  and  death  to  multitudes.  There  are  two  meth- 
ods of  universal  application  :  first,  obtain  a  bottle 
of  cough  mixture,  or  a  lot  of  cough  candy  —  any 
kind  will  do.  In  a  day  or  two  you  will/eeZ  better, 
and  in  high  spirits ;  you  will  be  charmed  with  the 
promptness  of  the  medicine  ;  make  a  mule  of  your- 
self, by  giving  your  certificate  of  the  valuable 
remedy,  and  in  due  course  of  time  another  certifi- 
cate will  be  made  for  your  admission  into  the  cem- 
etery. The  other  remedy  is,  consult  a  respectable 
resident  physician. 


174  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

A  PAIR  of  good  shoes,  a  thick  woollen  under-shirt, 
a  few  dollars  expended  in  mending  a  leaky  roof, 
or  to  supply  an  abundance  of  pure  water  to  a 
household,  would  many  a  time  be  the  means  of 
warding  off  sickness  from  individuals,  and  even 
whole  families,  otherwise  doomed  to  weary  years 
of  invalidism,  with  the  attendant  expenses  which 
have  to  be  supplied  from  charitable  funds. 

Neither  mirth  nor  mourning  ought  to  be  re- 
strained of  their  natural  expression.  Laughter 
increases  the  gladness,  and  sighs  relieve  the  sor- 
rowing heart. 

Our  highest  wisdom  and  our  only  safety  is  in 
living  up  to  the  laws  of  our  being  all  the  time,  ha- 
bitually ;  and  such  are  the  persons  who  live  to  a 
good  old  age,  in  health  of  body,  and  in  that  cheer- 
fulness of  spirit,  which  is  a  natural  fruit  of  habit- 
ual health. 

The  people  are  really  beginning  to  wake  up  to 
the  proper  appreciation  of  what  is  solid,  and  use- 
ful, and  practical,  and  true  ;  are  beginning  to  find 
out  that  they  have  bodies ;  that  these  bodies  ought 
to  be  cared  for  as  well  as  a  fine  coat  or  a  new  hat, 
and  will  last  the  longer  for  such  care.  This  is  a 
happy  omen  in  the  estimation  of  the  physician, 
who  knows  full  well  that  half  the  race  die  half  a 
century  sooner  than  they  would  do,  if  the  science 
of  health  were  studied  as  it  ought  to  be. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  175 

Let  no  man's  appetite  be  a  guide  for  your  stom- 
ach ;  but  only  eat  what  you  crave,  even  if"  it  be  a 
piece  of  pound  cake  or  sole  leather;  eat  it  in 
great  moderation  first,  so  as  to  be  on  the  safe  side, 
and  gradually  increase  the  quantity.  On  the  other 
hand,  never  swallow  an  atom  which  you  do  not 
crave,  for  nothing,  for  nobody.  A  pig  would  not 
80  violate  nature.  It  should  strike  us  as  one  of 
the  most  reasonable  of  inferences,  that  the  stomach 
would  most  easily  digest  that  wliich  it  most  eagerly 
craved.  There  are  morbid  and  unnatural  cravings, 
but  these  are  exceptions.  We  are  speaking  as  to 
general  rules,  here  and  elsewhere  in  this  volume, 
and  it  will  help  the  reader  to  a  more  truthful  ap- 
preciation of  the  principles  advocated  in  these 
pages  if  this  distinction  is  kept  clearly  in  view. 

They  who  are  wise,  will,  for  themselves  and 
their  children,  give  an  early  direction  to  the  high- 
er feelings  of  our  nature  towards  those  channels 
which  will  pour  out  their  influences  of  truth, 
humanity,  and  religion,  to  fructify  and  bless  the 
world  for  all  time. 

It  is  a  truth,  which  should  be  kept  sight  of  in 
all  human  maladies,  tliat  great  Nature  is  our  safest 
and  wisest  teacher. 

The  time  for  taking  cold  is  after  your  exercise ; 
the  place  is  in  your  own  house,  or  office,  or  count 
ing-room. 


176  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Dyspepsia  ia  cured  by  muscular  exercise,  volun- 
tary or  involuntary,  and  cannot  be  cured  in  any 
other  way,  because  nothing  can  create  or  collect 
gastric  juice  except  exercise  ;  it  is  a  product  of 
the  human  machine  —  Nature  only  can  make  it. 

To  go  down  to  the  grave  without  bitter  re- 
morses, to  have  an  old  age  crowded  with  dear,  de- 
lightful memories,  cultivate  the  habit  of  perceiv- 
ing and  enjoying  the  present  sunshine,  of  appreci- 
ating present  blessings  and  present  happiness ; 
cultivate,  sedulously  cultivate,  a  respectful,  affec- 
tionate attention  to  parental  wishes,  to  the  promo- 
tion of  parental  comfort,  and  peace,  and  quietude, 
and  gladness,  and  to  all  your  kindred,  especially  to 
those  nearest  to  you ;  aim  steadily,  not  merely  to 
discharge  your  whole  duty,  for  that  is  a  cold  word 
in  this  connection,  but  let  your  whole  life  go  out 
to  them  in  willing  sympathies,  in  timely  assistance, 
in  generous  allowances,  and  in  forbearances  loving, 
and  long,  and  sweet.  Such  a  course  will  bring 
present  rewards,  and  will  lay  up  for  the  future  a 
store  of  delightful  satisfactions,  to  be  feasted  on 
till  life's  latest  hour. 

It  is  an  absolute  cruelty  for  any  man  who  owes 
another,  in  these  times,  to  permit  money  to  lie  idle 
in  his  hands.  There  are  times  when  a  single  dol- 
lar may  lift  a  mountain  weight  from  the  heart  of  a 
man  who  is  worth  thousands. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  177 

Man  is  like  a  well-adjusted  and  well-iaade 
machine,  which,  if  worked  steadily,  will  last  a  long 
time,  but  if  moved  by  fits  and  starts,  and  badly 
cared  for,  will  soon  be  jolted  to  pieces.  Thus  it 
is  that  equanimity  of  mind,  and  steady  bodily 
habits,  are  each  promotive  of  long  life,  and,  when 
combined,  will  not  only  enable  the  possessor  to 
live  within  sight  of  his  century,  but  do  it  in  enjoy- 
able health  of  body,  and  a  pleasurable  and  hilarious 
mental  activity.  Surely  such  an  old  age  is  worth 
laboring  for;  and  that  it  is  attained  by  whole 
classes  of  persons  who  make  moderation  their  life- 
long habit,  is  susceptible  of  undeniable  proof. 

OuB  ministers  are  feasted  too  much. 

Young  children  who  live  in  cities  during  the  hot 
weather,  would  be  almost  exempted  from  summer 
diseases  if  they  lived  wholly  in  elevated,  good 
buildings,  and  were  regularly  and  properly  fed. 

What  you  have  to  do,  do  it  at  once,  and  do  it 
well. 

If  you  want  your  talents  appreciated,  get  rich. 
That  tells  the  whole  story  in  a  nutshell.  If  you 
wish  to  be  anybody  in  the  estimation  of  mankind, 
get  rich.  No  matter  how  pure  your  morality,  how 
lofty  your  aspiration,  how  disciplined  your  mind, 
unless  you  have  a  fortune,  you  will  seldom  be 
loved,  noticed,  or  respected. 
12 


178  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Books  are  never  so  necessary  as  in  the  wane  of 
life.  In  childhood,  we  are  busy  with  toys ;  in 
youth,  with  pleasure  ;  in  manhood,  with  action ; 
and  so  may  dispense  with  the  delights  of  reading, 
with  little  consciousness  of  loss.  But  when  at 
last  we  are  too  wise  to  be  charmed  with  baubles, 
too  earnest  to  be  tickled  with  straws,  too  old  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sense,  too  fond  of  repose 
to  endure  the  noise  of  the  bustling  world,  then  it 
is  that  books  are  felt  to  be  the  truest  and  most 
agreeable  of  friends;  companions  who  neither 
contradict  us  with  arrogance,  insult  us  with  bad 
manners,  nor  love  us  with  prolixity.  For  we  can 
cherish  the  entertaining,  reject  the  dull,  and  snub 
the  long-winded,  without  giving  pain.  How  pleas- 
ant, when  life  is  in  the  "  sere  and  yellow  leaf," 

"  To  turn  again  our  earlier  volumes  o'er, 
And  lore  them  then,  because  we've  loved  before; 
And  wily  bless  the  warning  hour  that  brings 
A  will  to  lean  once  more  on  single  things ; 
If  this  be  weakness,  welcome  life's  decline ; 
If  this  be  second  childhood,  be  it  mine  1  " 

Never  anticipate  wealth  from  any  other  source 
than  labor ;  especially,  never  place  dependence 
upon  becoming  the  possessor  of  an  inheritance. 

In  our  opinion,  those  who  reprobate  the  rich  so 
glibly,  are  a  set  of  poor,  lazy  good-for-nothings, 
whose  idolatry  is  their  ease,  whose  god  is  their 
belly,  and  who  glory  in  their  shame. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  179 

We  must  die  alone.  To  the  very  verge  of  the 
stream  our  friends  may  accompany  us ;  they  may 
bend  over  us,  they  may  cling  to  us,  there ;  but 
that  one  long  wave  from  the  sea  of  eternity  washes 
up  to  the  lips,  sweeps  us  from  the  shore,  and  we 
go  forth  alone  !  In  that  untried  and  utter  solitude, 
then,  what  can  there  be  for  us  but  the  pulsation  of 
that  assurance,  "  I  am  not  alone,  because  the 
Father  is  with  me  1 " 

Most  persons  have  a  kind  of  spite  or  grudge 
against  rich  people,  the  foundation  of  which  we 
presume  is  in  envy,  —  one  of  the  very  meanest 
feelings  of  our  nature. 

Away  with  this  railing  against  the  rich ;  let  it 
be  preached  from  the  pulpit,  and  let  it  be  pro- 
claimed by  the  press,  with  its  million  tongues,  that 
to  accumulate  wealth  is  one  of  the  first,  one  of 
the  highest,  one  of  the  noblest  duties  of  an  immor- 
tal mind,  and  then  that  to  use  it  benevolently,  makes 
that  mind  akin  to  God.  The  true  Christian  doc- 
trine is,  make  all  you  can  honorably,  save  all  you 
can  unmeanly,  bestow  all  you  can  unostentatiously. 

To  succeed  in  life,  make  up  your  mind  to  ac- 
complish whatever  you  undertake ;  decide  upon 
some  particular  employment,  and  persevere  in  it. 
All  difficulties  are  overcome  by  diligence  and 
assiduity.  Be  not  afraid  to  work  with  your  hands, 
and  diligently,  too. 


180  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Do  not  jest  with  your  wife  upon  a  subject  in 
which  there  is  danger  of  wounding  her  feelings. 
Remember  that  she  treasures  every  word  that  you 
utter.  Do  not  speak  of  some' virtue  in  another 
man's  wife  to  remind  your  own  of  a  fault.  Do 
not  reproach  your  wife  with  inattention  in  com- 
pany; it  touches  her  pride,  and  she  will  not  re- 
spect yoa  more,  gr  love  you  better  for  it.  Do  not 
upbraid  your  wife  in  the  presence  of  a  third  party ; 
the  sense  of  your  disregard  of  her  feelings  will 
prevent  her  from  acknowledging  her  faults. 

Every  man  owes  it  to  society  to  become  rich, 
for  the  poor  man's  advice  is  never  heeded,  let  it  be 
ever  so  valuable.  The  more  wise  one  may  be,  the 
more  he  owes  it  to  his  country  to  become  wealthy. 
Every  addition  made  to  a  man's  fortune,  adds  ten 
per  cent,  to  his  influence.  Let  a  man  throw  a 
doubloon  on  the  counter,  and  every  one  will  want 
to  hear  it  ring.  Throw  a  cent  down,  however,  and 
its  voice  would  prove  no  more  attractive  than 
poor  relations. 

A  MAN  who  has  no  enemies,  is  seldom  good  for 
anything :  he  is  made  of  that  kind  of  material, 
which  is  so  easily  worked,  that  every  one  has  a 
hand  in  it.  A  sterling  character,  one  who  thinks 
for  himself,  and  speaks  what  he  thinks,  is  always 
sure  to  have  enemies.  They  are  as  necessary  to 
him  as  fresh  air ;  they  keep  him  alive  and  active. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  181 

If  the  disposition  to  speak  well  of  others  waa 
universally  prevalent,  the  world  would  become  a 
perfect  paradise.  How  many  enmities  and  heart- 
burnings  flow  from  detraction  !  How  much  hap- 
piness is  interrupted  and  destroyed  I  Envy, 
jealousy,  and  the  malignant  spirit  of  evil,  when 
they  find  vent  by  the  lips,  go  forth  on  their  mis- 
sion  like  foul  fiends,  to  blast  the  reputation  and 
peace  of  others.  Every  one  has  his  imperfections, 
and  in  the  conduct  of  the  best,  there  will  be  occa- 
sional faults  which  might  seem  to  justify  animad- 
version. It  is  a  good  rule,  however,  when  there  is 
occasion  for  fault-finding,  to  do  it  privately.  It  is 
a  proof  of  interest  in  the  individual,  which  will 
generally  be  taken  kindly,  if  the  manner  of  doing 
it  is  not  oifensive.  The  common  and  unchristian 
rule,  on  the  contrary,  is  to  proclaim  the  failing  of 
others  to  all  but  themselves.  This  is  unchristian, 
and  shows  a  despicable  heart. 

True  religion  is  the  foster  brother  of  education, 
elevation,  and  research,  and  that  system  which 
cherishes  ignorance  and  represses  thought,  may 
be  known  thereby  to  be  false  in  its  foundations, 
the  world  over. 

The  common  opinion  that  drunkenness  belongs 
to  the  poorer  and  more  degraded  of  our  population, 
and  that  it  most  abounds  only  in  dens  and  garrets, 
is  indeed  a  very  mistaken  one. 


182  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  stomach  is  weak,  like  every  other  part  of 
the  body,  and  to  put  upon  it  a  task  which  its  in- 
stincts do  not  seek,  is  unwise  and  illogical  in  the 
highest  degree.  You  can't  make  a  sick  pig  eat, 
while  man,  a  bigger  pig,  "  forces  "  the  food  upon 
himself,  when  he  has  not  the  slightest  inclination, 
and  even  takes  measures  to  create  the  inclination. 
Nor  bird,  nor  beast,  nor  creaping  thing  will  eat 
when  sick,  but  man,  the  biggest  brute  of  all,  will. 

Health,  wealth,  and  religion  are  the  three 
grand  duties  of  life.  Each  additional  year  con- 
firms me  in  the  opinion,  that  pulpit  teachings,  in 
reference  to  money,  are  erroneous,  mischievous, 
and  inconsistent. 

The  first,  the  indispensable  requisites  of  health- 
ful cooking  are,  that  the  materials  should  be  fresh, 
perfect,  and  ripe,  and  that  they  should  be  properly 
cooked.  It  may  be  safe  to  say,  that  half  of  the 
food  prepared  for  American  tables  is  ruined,  for 
all  purposes  of  healthful  nutrition,  in  the  cooking, 
and  destroys  rather  than  builds  up,  weakens,  in- 
stead of  imparting  vigor,  and  engenders  wasting 
disease,  rather  than  promotes  good  health.  The 
higher  classes  of  society,  the  best  informed,  appre- 
ciate these  truths,  and  seek  to  secure  all  their  ad- 
vantages by  a  more  strict  personal  attention  to  the 
larder  and  the  kitchen  than  those  below  them  in 
the  social  scale. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  183 

The  masses  have  a  settled  feeling  of  hostility 
and  even  bitterness  towards  the  rich,  as  if  they  were 
their  hereditary  enemies ;  and  yet  in  no  large  city 
of  the  world  is  so  much  done  for  suflfering  human- 
ity, as  by  the  rich,  the  fashionable,  and  the  aristo- 
cratic. It  is  easy  for  them  to  give  money,  and 
they  do  it;  but  they  do  more;  they  give  their 
countenance,  their  time,  and  their  personal  efforts, 
for  the  purpose  of  raising  means  to  help  the  poor, 
the  needy,  the  sick,  and  the  friendless.  It  is  from 
their  purses  funds  come,  and  from  their  influence 
and  individual  efforts  plans  are  carried  out,  which 
eventuate  the  noblest  charities  of  our  time,  the 
colleges,  the  homes,  the  asylums,  the  hospitals, 
which  nurse  the  sick,  which  care  for  the  insane, 
which  shelter  the  unfortunate,  which  feed  the  hun- 
gry, and  guard  and  guide  and  cherish  the  forsaken 
and  the  motherless ;  and  it  is  to  those  who  keep 
the  "  fatherless"  that  the  inspired  page  awards  the 
meed  of  citizenship  in  heaven. 

Valuable  lives  are  often  thrown  away,  lost, 
through  ignorance  of  some  of  the  simplest  truths 
in  nature,  or  errors  of  judgment  in  matters  where 
error  becomes  a  crime.  Some  of  the  best,  wisest, 
and  greatest  men  of  our  race  have  perished  from 
the  world,  in  consequence  of  what  might  be  con- 
sidered a  carelessness,  a  recklessness,  or  an  igno- 
rance, which  is  amazing,  as  found  in  minds  like 
theirs. 


184  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

When  the  masses  have  received  the  benefits  of 
a  public  school  education,  and  when  the  heart  has 
been  so  influenced  by  the  claims  of  conscience  and 
of  duty  as  to  make  men  willing  to  deny  themselves 
all  bodily  indulgences,  then  may  we  expect  wise 
lives  on  the  part  of  all,  leading  to  high  health, 
great  eflficiency,  and  general  usefulness ;  for  when 
the  brain  and  the  heart  are  properly  educated, 
there  will  follow  wisdom,  temperance,  a  long  and 
healthful  life,  and  universal  thrift. 

Millions  of  money  are  spent  every  month  in  the 
purchase  of  transient  and  trashy  novels ;  all  classes 
join  in  this  expenditure,  and  yet,  when  a  dollar  or 
two  would  purchase  reading  for  an  entire  family  for  a 
whole  year,  which  shows  how  to  maintain  health,  and 
how  to  avei't  disease,  bodily,  mental,  and  moral,  for  a 
life-time,  the  expenditure  is  considered  one  of  the 
things  which  can  be  dispensed  with  without  incon- 
venience. So  much  the  better  for  doctors,  who 
profit  by  the  negligence  or  stupidity  to  the  amount 
of  a  hundred  million  of  dollars  every  year,  in  the 
United  States  alone,  besides  another  hundred  mil- 
lion to  druggists,  and  more  than  another  hundred 
million  for  quack  medicines,  such  as  molasses  and 
water,  opium,  colored  soap-suds,  and  the  like. 

By  all  means,  reader,  hear  Mark  Twain,  or  read 
his  book.  He  will  give  you  laugh  enough  to  keep 
you  in  vigorous  health  for  a  long  time  to  come. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  185 

If  you  are  eating,  and  find  that  you  have  had 
enough,  and  don't  want  a  mouthful  more,  why  in 
the  world  don't  you  stop  ?  There's  not  a  pig,  or 
puppy,  or  poodle  in  existence  that  hasn't  sense 
enough  to  stop  eating  when  he's  got  enough. 
Your  brother,  the  donkey,  does  it.  Don't  you  see, 
reader,  you  are  more  than  a  mule?  Ain't  you 
ashamed  of  yourself  for  doing  such  stupid  things, 
and  putting  yourself  beneath  the  brutes  which 
perish  ? 

It  is  bad  enough  to  be  poor ;  it  is  worse  to  be 
in  bad  health ;  but  to  be  old,  poor,  and  sickly,  is 
terrible.  Hard  enough  it  is  for  the  great  multi- 
tudes to  get  along  in  the  world,  even  when  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  bodily  vigor,  but  to  enter  on  the 
strife  for  bread  under  the  crushing  influence  of 
poverty  and  disease,  is  terrible  to  think  of;  and  to 
avoid  calamities  so  great,  let  every  one  read  the 
Bible  with  greater  care,  and  practise  more  assidu- 
ously its  lessons  of  wisdom  and  truth,  for  in  this 
practice  there  is  length  of  days,  honor,  and  peace 
in  the  life  that  now  is,  and  in  the  world  to  come, 
life  everlasting. 

A  GREAT  cause  of  death  in  spring-time  is  ovei 
haste  in  removing  winter  clothing;  the  thickest 
flannel  of  mid-winter  should  be  worn  by  all,  without 
any  change  to  a  thinner  material,  until  the  middle 
of  May. 


186  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

It  is  the  care  of  to-morrow,  the  gnawing,  corro- 
ding anxieties  for  the  future,  which  eat  away  the 
health  and  life  of  multitudes. 

Marriage  is  the  natural  state  of  human  kind. 
There  never  can  be  lasting  good  health  without  it;  it 
is  an  impossibility,  except  combined  with  criminal 
practices.  A  person  may  live  in  good  health  to  the 
age  of  twenty-five,  but  if  marriage  is  deferred  be- 
yond that,  every  month's  delay  is  the  eating  out, 
more  and  more,  the  very  essence  of  life,  and  th* 
worm  of  certain  disease  and  premature  death  bur- 
rows the  more  deeply  into  the  vitals.  On  the  other 
hand,  marriage  not  later  than  twenty-five  prolongs 
life. 

The  humble  and  consistent  looking  upward  foi 
the  gratification  of  our  desires,  the  satisfaction  of 
our  wants,  and  that  aid  which  comes  from  above  to 
enable  us  to  perform  properly  all  the  duties  of  life, 
is  a  religious  obligation. 

Man  is  the  only  animal  that  drinks  without  being 
thirsty. 

In  the  night-sweats  of  consumption,  or  of  any  de- 
bilitated condition  of  the  system,  a  woollen  flannel 
night-dress  is  immeasurably  more  comfortable  than 
cotton  or  hnen,  because  it  prevents  that  sepulchral 
dampness  and  chilliness  of  feeling,  which  are  other- 
wise inevitable. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  187 

The  most  all-pervading  cause  of  the  increased 
sickness  and  death  in  cities  in  warm  weather,  is 
the  breathing  of  an  impure,  a  vitiated  atmosphere. 
The  most  uncultivated  know  that  there  are  "smells" 
connected  with  places  in  summer,  which  are  not 
noticeable  in  winter.  Many  p^rsoni  aim  to  have 
the  rats  about  the  house  killed  with  poison,  before 
the  warm  weather  comes  on,  so  as  to  avoid  noi- 
someness  about  the  premises.  Hence,  it  must  be 
set  down  as  a  practical  fact,  that  warm  weather 
generates  odors  which  make  the  air  impure;  the 
breathing  of  which  will  always  induce  disease 
sooner  or  later,  and  more  or  less  fatal,  according  to 
the  degree  of  impurity  and  the  duration  of  ex- 
posure to  it.  As  double  the  number  of  persons  die 
in  the  crowded  parts  of  the  city  compared  with 
less  condensed  districts ;  and,  as  the  poorer  people 
are,  the  more  crowded  are  their  habitations,  and 
poverty,  filth,  squalor,  and  uncleanness  go  together 
always  and  everywhere,  it  is  proof  positive  that 
hot  weather  acting  upon  unclean  habitations  and 
surroundings,  and  thus  vitiating  the  atmosphere,  is 
the  great  overshadowing  cause  of  the  premature 
death  and  wasting  sickness  which  pervades  cities 
in  summer  time.  The  practical  inference  is,  that 
to  prevent  much  of  these  calamities,  all  that  is  ne- 
cessary is  to  secure  a  greater  degree  of  cleanliness 
in  person,  in  the  houses,  cellars,  kitchens,  back 
yards,  streets,  and  gutters. 


188  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

That  parent  is  guilty  of  a  criminal  negligence 
who  does  not  always  see  to  it  that  each  child  enters 
the  church  and  school-house  door  with  feet  com- 
fortably dry  and  warm.  Grown  persons,  of  very 
limited  intelligence,  know  that,  as  to  themselves, 
damp  feet  endanger  health  and  life,  however  robust; 
much  more  so  must  it  be  to  the  tender  constitution 
of  a  growing  child. 

No  case  is  remembered  in  the  practice  of  nearly 
forty  years,  where  malt  liquors,  wines,  brandies,  or 
any  alcoholic  drinks  whatever,  have  ever  had  a 
permanent  good  effect  in  improving  the  digestion. 
Apparent  advantages  sometimes  result,  but  they 
are  transient  or  deceptive.  If  there  is  no  appetite, 
it  is  because  nature  has  provided  no  gastric  juice ; 
and  that  is  the  product  of  nature,  not  of  alcohol. 
If  there  is  appetite  but  no  digestive  power,  liquor 
no  more  supplies  that  power,  than  would  the  lash 
give  strength  to  an  exhausted  donkey.  If  torture 
does  arouse  the  sinking  beast,  it  is  only  that  it  shall 
fall  a  little  later  into  a  still  greater  exhaustion  from 
which  there  is  no  recovery;  so  with  the  use  of 
liquor  and  tobacco  as  whetters  of  the  appetite,  when 
at  length  the  desire  for  the  accustomed  stimulus 
ceases,  and  the  man  "  sickens ;  "  there  is  no  longer 
a  relish  for  the  dram  and  the  chew,  and  life  fades 
apace,  either  in  a  stupor  from  which  there  is  no 
awaking,  or  by  wasting  and  uncontrollable  diarrhoea. 


DE.  hall's  maxims.  189 

Blessed  is  the  ordainment  that  man  should  live 
by  the  sweat  of  his  brow. 

Reasoning  from  the  analogy  of  the  animal  crea- 
tion,  mankind  should  live  nearly  a  hundred  years ; 
that  law  seeming  to  be,  that  life  should  be  five  times 
the  length  of  the  period  of  growth ;  at  least,  the 
general  observation  is,  that  the  longer  persons  are 
growing,  the  longer  they  live,  other  things  being 
equal. 

Divert  the  mind  in  time  of  trouble ;  don't  brood 
over  misfortunes,  nor  indulge  in  melancholy  medi- 
tations ;  gloat  not  over  gold ;  never  allow  your  re- 
flections to  become  inseparable  from  any  one  sub- . 
ject.  When  you  find  that  you  "  can't  sleep  "  from 
the  mind  running  on  a  particular  subject,  remember 
that  you  are  rapidly  preparing  for  the  mad-house ; 
and  in  proportion  as  any  one  idea  absorbs  the  brain, 
in  such  proportion  are  you  courting  insanity.  Cul- 
tivate a  cheerful,  an  uncomplaining,  a  genial  frame 
of  mind.  Look  on  the  bright  side  of  things ;  take 
hold  of  the  smooth  handle  ;  and  above  all,  be 
moderately  busy  to  the  last  day  of  life  in  some- 
thing agreeable  and  useful  to  yourself  and  others. 

The  experienced  practitioner  well  understands 
that  the  habitual  taking  of  any  efficient  medicine 
is  the  certain  road  to  a  premature  and  very  often  a 
violent  or  agonizing  death. 


190  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

It  is  a  dreadful  thing  to  be  old  and  poor,  and 
have  no  home;  but  there  is  a  deeper  depth  of 
human  calamity  than  this  —  it  is  to  have,  in  addi- 
tion, an  old  age  of  wasting,  wearing  sickness,  which 
is  often  superinduced  by  that  constant  depression 
of  mind  which  attends  the  consciousness  of  being 
alone,  friendless,  and  in  want.  One  of  the  very 
best  means  of  avoiding  an  old  age  of  destitution 
and  bodily  suflfering  is  to  cultivate  while  young  all 
the  benevolent  and  generous  feelings  of  our  nature, 
never  by  any  possibility  allowing  any  opportunity 
pass  of  befriending  a  fellow-traveller,  as  we  are 
passing  along  life's  journey,  for  sooner  or  later  the 
reward  will  oome,  the  reward  of  a  happy  heart,  and 
oftentimes  a  comfortable  provision  for  declining 
years. 

No  one  ever  stammers  in  singing,  because  the 
attention  is  divided  between  the  music  and  the 
sentiment. 

Pigs,  puppies,  and  babies  are  the  better  for  being 
well  washed  every  day ;  but  for  persons  in  general 
to  undergo  such  an  operation,  as  regular  as  the 
morning  comes,  is,  absurd  and  hurtful.  Absurd, 
because  unnecessary,  and  no  man  ever  did  it  for  a- 
lifetime  ;  hurtful,  because  multitudes  who  com- 
menced the  unnatural  practice,  have  abandoned  it 
from  the  conviction  that  it  had  an  unfavorable 
effect,  or  that  they  ceased  to  be  benefited  by  it. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  191 

The  undoubted  cause  of  the  remarkable  diminu- 
tion of  sickness  and  death  among  children  in  chari- 
table institutions,  can  be  from  nothing  else  than  the 
perfect  cleanliness  of  these  establishments,  plain- 
ness of  food,  and  regularity  in  eating  and  sleeping; 
a  most  suggestive  statement  to  every  parent. 

Those  who  are  "  well  to  do  in  the  world  "  live 
about  eleven  years  longer  than  those  who  have  to 
work  from  day  to  day  for  a  living.  Remunerative 
labor,  and  the  diffusion  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
laws  of  life  among  the  masses,  with  temperance  and 
thrift,  are  the  great  means  of  adding  to  human 
health  and  life ;  but  the  more  important  ingredient, 
happiness,  is  only  to  be  found  in  daily  loving,  obey- 
ing, and  serving  Him  "  who  giveth  us  all  things 
richly  to  enjoy." 

Diphtheria  is  not  inoculable ;  prevails  in  every 
climate,  in  all  seasons,  and  is  equally  at  home  in  the 
princely  mansions  which  line  the  spacious  and  well- 
cleaned  street,  and  in  the  houses  of  stenchy  courts 
and  contracted  alleys.  It  has  no  fixed  course,  may 
recur  any  number  of  times,  but  only  fastens  on  the 
scrofulous,  or  those  whose  constitutions  are  im- 
paired, or  have  poor  blood ;  the  immediate  cause  of 
attack  being  the  breathing  of  a  faulty  or  defective 
atmosphere. 

We  should  demand  nothing  which  costs  another 
unnecessary  trouble  or  pain. 


192  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

If  you  want  to  get  rid  of  a  troublesome  and  un- 
principled acquaintance,  without  offending  him, 
lend  him  five  dollars. 

Make  the  Bible  your  companion,  your  counsellor; 
keep  it  always  in  easy  and  convenient  reach ;  and 
learn  to  be  satisfied  in  its  fulness,  to  find  in  it  a 
safe  guide,  a  friend  in  need,  and  an  able  phy- 
sician. 

We  should  guard  against  cherishing  depressing 
feelings ;  and  with  as  much  care,  should  habituate 
ourselves  to  self-control ;  to  the  habit  of  looking  at 
everything  of  a  stirring  or  harrowing  character 
with  a  calm  courage ;  we  should  strive  at  all  times 
for  that  valuable  characteristic,  "  presence  of  mind," 
under  all  circumstances,  for  we  are  every  day  in 
gi'eat  need  of  it ;  it  is,  in  many  cases,  a  literal  "  life 
preserver." 

The  man  who  "  forces "  his  food,  he  who  eats 
without  an  inclination,  and  he  who  strives  by  tonics, 
bitters,  wine,  or  other  alcoholic  liquors,  to  "  get  up  " 
an  appetite,  is  a  sinner  against  body  and  soul  —  a 
virtual  suicide. 

The  city  should  marry  the  country ;  the  black- 
haired  the  blonde;  the  bilious  temperament  the 
nervous ;  the  fair-skinned  the  brunette ;  the  stout 
the  slender ;  the  tall  the  short.  To  marry  each  its 
like,  is  to  degrade  the  race. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  193 

He  who  would  be  uniformly  happy,  who  would 
pass  the  greater  part  of  his  time  in  a  state  of  mental 
pleasurableness,  must  be  healthy,  well-to-do,  and 
moderately  busy. 

A  PARTIAL  wetting  of  a  garment  la  more  apt  to 
induce  an  attack  of  rheumatism,  than  if  the  entire 
clothing  were  wetted ;  because,  in  the  latter  case,  it 
would  be  certainly  and  speedily  exchanged  for 
dry  garments.  The  very  moment  a  garment  ia 
wetted  in  whole  or  in  part,  change  it,  or  keep  in 
motion  sufficient  to  maintain  a  very  slight  perspira- 
tion, until  the  clothing  is  perfectly  dried. 

By  all  that  ia  sacred  in  a  holy  human  life,  we 
urge  the  reader,  when  he  or  any  of  his  are  ailing 
in  any  way  whatever,  to  do  one  or  two  things : 
either  do  nothing,  and  let  Nature  take  care  of  her- 
self, or  consult  your  family  physician,  who,  if  edu« 
cated  to  his  profession,  will  take  an  interest  in  you 
beyond  any  stranger ;  or,  if  he  sees  the  case  ia 
beyond  his  skill,  will  frankly  acknowledge  it,  and 
will  take  pains  to  turn  you  over  to  some  man  of 
eminence  and  acknowledged  ability. 

A  CELLAR  which  opens  inside  a  dwelling  should 
be  kept  as  faultlessly  clean  all  the  year  round  as  any 
other  part  of  the  house,  because  its  atmosphere  ia 
constantly  ascending,  and  impregnates  every  room 
in  the  house  with  its  own  odors.  In  reality,  there 
ought  not  to  be  any  cellar  under  any  dwelling. 
13 


194  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

There  are  a  multitude  of  advertisements  of  books 
and  remedies  in  reference  to  "  nervous  debility,"  as 
it  is  called.  For  a  purpose,  we  once  sent  a  few 
stamps  for  an  infallible  receipt  for  consumption, 
or  some  other  ailment.  The  answer  came  that  it 
was  the  "  Indian  Plant,  growing  at  the  foot  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains ;  and  that  it  had  to  be  gathered 
in  August,  otherwise  it  had  no  virtues."  As  it 
would  cost  something  to  go  to  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
and  it  was  then  December,  and,  in  addition,  no 
description  was  given  of  the  "  Indian  Plant,"  and 
as  there  might  not  be  any  Indians  at  the  foot  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains,  after  we  got  there,  to  point  out 
the  "  Indian  Plant,"  we  were  in  a  quandary ;  but  the 
whole  set  of  almost  insuperable  difficulties  were 
vanquished  in  a  moment  by  the  announcement  that 
the  advertiser  had  some  of  it  on  hand  at  two 
dollars  a  bottle.  It  should  be  remembered,  that 
there  is  only  one  remedy  for  the  class  of  ailments 
referred  to  —  rest  for  the  parts  implicated ;  that  is, 
abstinence,  temperance,  and  a  building  up  of  the 
general  health ;  not  by  tonics,  but  by  a  plain  diet 
and  a  constant  employment  in  out-door  activities. 
Another  heartless  swindle  and  imposition  in  this 
direction  is,  that  the  very  state  of  things  which 
proves  the  vigor  of  the  system  is  artfully  presented 
afe  a  symptom  of  decline. 

It  is  a  bad  plan  for  unprofessional  people  to  read 
medical  books,  it  first  befogs  and  then  befools. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  195 

In  going  to  the  country  to  spend  your  summer, 
leave  business  behind,  but  take  with  you  your 
entire  stock  of  patience,  courtesy,  self-respect,  and 
religion.     Go  as  plain  "  John  Smith,  gentleman." 

Good  teeth,  good  looks,  and  good  health  are 
inseparable.  Ill  health  destroys  the  teeth ;  unless 
food  is  chewed  well,  the  horrors  of  a  life-long  dys- 
peptic are  inevitable.  The  handsomest  face  in  the 
world  is  marred,  fatally  marred,  by  a  snaggled 
tooth.  The  time  to  lay  the  foundation  for  a  set  of 
sound,  solid  teeth  is  when  the  child  first  begins  to 
eat  bread. 

Let  a  man  feel  that  the  truest  way  of  living  for 
himself  is  to  live  for  others ;  that  the  best  way 
to  serve  his  Maker  is  to  "  make  it  his  meat  and  his 
drink,"  his  highest  aim,  to  benefit  aud  bless  mankind 
habitually  by  such  acts  of  kindness  and  charity  as 
it  is  in  his  power  to  perform,  consistent  with  the 
other  duties  of  life.  Then  the  earthly  pilgrimage 
will  have  a  very  different  ending ;  for  as  he  enters 
upon  immortal  scenes,  he  exclaims,  like  him  of  old, 
"  The  time  of  my  departure  is  at  hand ;  I  have 
fought  a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  my  course, 
I  have  kept  the  faith ;  henceforth  there  is  laid  up 
for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness,  which  the  Lord, 
the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at  that  day ;  and 
not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also  that  love  his 
appearing," 


196  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

If  you  have  the  first  claim  to  being  well  bred, 
you  will  be  the  last  person  in  the  world  to  volunteer 
any  information  on  the  subject.  If  it  must  be  told, 
let  it  be  by  your  conduct ;  let  your  entire  deport- 
ment prove  that  you  are  a  lady  or  a  gentleman. 

I^Iany  a  fellow's  repentance  begins,  not  with  the 
commission  of  the  sin,  but  on  the  instant  of  his  being 
found  to  have  been  a  sinner. 

The  fear  of  poverty  has  made  many  a  rich  man 
go  mad.  But  the  hardest  worked  slave  is  seldom 
deranged,  because  he  has  no  abiding  sorrow — no 
concern  about  to-morrow's  bread.  His  labor  is 
mechanical,  and  the  moment  it  is  over  he  dismisses 
all  thought  of  toil,  the  mind  runs  home  to  his  little 
hut,  to  his  supper,  and  the  other  animal  gratifica- 
tions of  his  position,  and  his  sleep  is  infinitely 
sweeter  than  his  master's. 

Sudden  changes  of  weather  are  the  immediate 
cause  of  the  sickness  and  death  of  multitudes ; 
hence  all  persons  owe  it  to  themselves  to  study,  to 
some  extent,  the  portents  of  the  heavens,  from 
their  own  observation,  as  to  the  localities  in  which 
they  live,  paying  but  little  attention,  and  relying 
not  at  all,  on  the  signs  of  the  weather,  as  read  in 
books  or  detailed  by  others.  Rules  for  farming 
and  weather  signs  are  proverbially  uncertain  and 
conflicting,  arising  from  the  one  cause  of  applying 
observations  of  one  locality  to  those  of  another. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  19*1 

SoNi  have  often  inherited  the  wealth  of  their 
fathers,  even  to  the  third  and  fourth  generation. 
The  same  principle  holds  good  as  -to  our  physical 
nature,  that  a  life  of  temperance,  and  industry,  and 
moderate  ambitions  secures  to  children,  even  for 
several  generations,  a  robustness  of  constitution,  a 
vitality,  a  physical  power,  which  may  well  be  the 
envy  of  a  multitude  of  the  sick,  and  diseased,  and 
effeminate  in  every  grade  of  society.  Children 
who  see  daily  in  their  parents  the  practice  of  all 
that  is  gentle,  and  lovable,  and  courteous,  and  kind, 
will  seldom  fail,  without  the  necesity  of  direct 
teachings  on  these  subjects,  to  acquire  the  same 
traits  of  character ;  and  the  example  lives,  and  has 
its  influence  and  power  for  good,  long  after  the 
parents  have  passed  away.  If  parents  want  their 
children  to  grow  up  and  inherit  their  own  robust 
health,  strength,  and  length  of  life,  it  must  come, 
not  so  much  by  birth  and  blood,  not  so  much  by 
precept,  and  command,  and  reason,  but  by  the  daily 
exhibition  of  a  calm,  quiet,  busy,  temperate  life  on 
the  part  of  their  parents,  carried  out  daily,  habitu- 
ally, and  persistently  by  living  examples.  Con- 
duct is  the  great,  efficient  teacher,  not  precept,  not 
theory,  not  idle  profession. 

Porter  and  beer  fill  up  the  stomach,  and  seem 
to  make  persons  fleshy;  but  there  is  but  little? 
nutriment,  and  great  bulk;  great  beer-drinkers 
«ire  never  strong ;  are  puffy. 


198  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Every  wife  and  mother  owes  it  to  herself,  her 
husband,  and  her  children,  as  well  as  to  society  at 
large,  to  prevent  waste  in  every  department  of  the 
household,  whether  provisions  are  cheap  or  dear, 
whether  the  husband  is  rich  or  poor ;  for  waste  is 
a  crime  against  humanity,  an  insult  to  the  boun- 
teous "  Giver  of  all  things."  On  the  other  hand,  a 
true  economy  is  one  of  the  wisest  and  most  enno- 
bling of  domestic  virtues. 

In  all  cases  where  there  is  a  fireplace  in  a  room, 
it  should  by  all  means  be  kept  open. 

Persons  have  poor  blood  when  it  is  observed 
that  scratehes,  and  cuts,  and  bruises  are  a  long 
time  in  healing,  and  this  should  be  a  friendly  warn- 
ing to  correct  that  condition  of  things,  because  it 
shows  there  is  but  little  vitality,  little  stamina, 
and  disease  of  some  kind  is  impending,  especially 
of  the  typhoid  type,  and  recovery  will  be  slow, 
doubtful,  and  in  many  cases  not  possible. 

Asthma.  —  A  martyr  to  this  terrible  disease, 
which  seldom  kills  any  one  dead,  yet  makes  its  vic- 
tim die  a  thousand  deaths,  will  be  glad  to  know  of 
any  alleviant.  A  simple  change  of  air,  from  moist 
to  dry,  from  the  city  to  the  prairie,  from  plain  to 
mountain,  or  the  reverse,  has  been  known  to  be 
beneficial.  Persons  ascending  the  mountain 
heights  of  Cornwall,  on  the  Hudson,  near  West 
Point,  have  had  striking  relief  witliin  a  few  hours. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  199 

It  is  a  bad  plan  to  begin  the  day  in  a  fret,  for  it 
will  be  a  day  of  happiness  lost. 

Many  a  man  and  woman  owe  an  untimely  death 
to  damp  feet  in  winter  time.  This  is  very  gener- 
ally admitted,  and  many  methods  have  been  pro- 
posed to  prevent  it.  In  wet  weather,  or  when  the 
snow  is  melting,  the  India-rubber  shoe  is  the  most 
perfect  article  oflfered;  some  prejudice  has  been 
excited  against  them,  more  than  anything  else 
from  the  unwise  use  of  them.  They  may  be  hurt- 
ful to  some,  but  it  does  not  follow  that  they  are 
generally  so.  No  one  can  be  comfortable  with 
cold,  damp  feet,  and  the  very  instant  it  is  noticed, 
the  person  should  begin  to  walk,  or  remove  both 
stockings,  and  hold  the  bare  feet  to  the  fire  until 
they  are  perfectly  dried  and  feel  comfortably 
warm.  India-rubber  overshoes  should  be  worn 
only  when  the  person  is  walking ;  as  soon  as  the 
walk  is  ended  they  should  be  removed.  They  cer- 
tainly ought  not  to  remain  on  the  feet  ten  minutes 
if  the  person  is  standing  still  in  the  house  after  a 
walk. 

It  is  a  bad  plan  to  consult  divers  doctors  at  one 
time. 

If  you  eat  to-day,  while  idle  and  the  thermom- 
eter at  sixty,  as  much  as  you  did  yesterday,  when 
it  was  at  zero  and  you  worked  hard,  you  will  cer- 
tainly be  sick  to-morrow. 


200  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Physicians  are  very  frequently  brought  in  com- 
munication with  persons  who,  from  some  whim  or 
caprice,  have  adopted  modes  of  life  the  very  re- 
verse of  what  an  intelligent  judgment  would  have 
dictated. 

The  physician  who  understands  his  calling  is  al- 
ways on  the  lookout  for  the  instincts  of  nature ; 
and  he  who  follows  them  most,  and  interferes  with 
them  least,  is  the  one  who  is  ofteuest  successful. 
They  are  worth  more  to  him  than  all  the  rigmarole 
stories  which  real  or  imaginary  invalids  pour  in 
upon  the  physician's  ear  with  siich  facile  vol- 
ubility. 

A  GREAT  cause  of  dyspepsia  in  ministers,  is  eat- 
ing too  soon  after  preaching.  For  two  or  three 
hours  the  tide  of  nervous  energy  has  been  setting 
in  strongly  towards  the  brain,  and  it  cannot  be 
suddenly  turned  towards  the  stomach;  but  the 
mental  effort  has  occasioned  a  feeling  of  faintness 
or  debility  about  the  stomach,  and  a  morbid  ap- 
petite ;  and  if  food  is  taken  at  all  largely,  there  is 
not  the  nervous  energy  there  requisite  to  effect  its 
digestion,  for  the  brain  will  be  running  over  the 
discourse ;  you  may  bring  the  mind  back  to  the 
eating  for  a  moment,  but  before  you  are  aware  of 
it,  it  will  be  laboring  at  the  discourse  again ;  every 
public  speaker  knows  this,  and  the  food  lies  there 
hke  a  weight  or  a  lump  for  hours. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  201 

The  best  disinfectants  are  those  which  cost  the 
least,  are  most  easily  applied,  and  which  cause  the 
least  inconvenience  to  the  health,  or  the  textures 
to  which  they  are  applied.  If  a  disinfectant  cor- 
rodes metals,  stains  garments,  disfigures  furniture, 
or  is  poisonous  when  outwardly  applied  or  swal- 
lowed, it  is  comparatively  valueless. 

If  a  man  were  to  say  to  me  that  the  moon  was 
made  out  of  a  monkey,  I  would  say  nothing,  and 
lot  him  have  his  own  way ;  either,  first,  because 
"  he  was  a  fool,  and  had  no  sense,"  or,  second,  that 
he  knew  better,  and  wanted  to  provoke  argument ; 
and  I  have  seldom  found  argument  upon  any  sub- 
ject, especially  on  politics  or  religion,  either  prof- 
itable or  agreeable. 

The  practice  of  medicine  consists  in  knowing 
what  is  the  matter,  what  is  needed,  and  what  will 
accomplish  the  object.  The  first  requires  obser- 
vation, the  second  judgment,  the  third  experience, 
and  he  who  possesses  these  in  the  greatest  meas- 
ure will  always  be  the  most  successful  physician, 
however  great  may  be  the  intelligence  or  igno. 
ranee  in  other  directions. 

The  man  who  makes  every  day  a  feast  of  fat 
things,  and  sustains  himself  by  never  allowing 
alcohol  to  die  out  of  him,  except  for  a  few  hours  in 
the  after  part  of  the  night,  must  perish  prematurely, 
and  cannot  beget  healthy  children. 


202  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

The  "  benefits  "  arising  from  the  daily  use  of  any- 
thing that  can  intoxicate  is  always  fictitious,  unreal, 
and  deceptive,  and  sooner  or  later  the  cheat  will 
be  found  out,  by  the  system  not  only  failing  to  be 
kept  up,  but  going  down  to  a  point  lower  than  that 
from  which  it  started,  with  the  attendant  ill  results 
of  ita  greater  inability  to  rise,  and  its  greater 
inability  to  repel  the  attacks  of  disease  or  the  ill 
eficcts  of  deleterious  agencies. 

When  a  person  has  been  kept  from  eating  several 
hours  beyond  his  usual  time,  instead  of  eating  fast 
and  heartily,  he  should  take  his  food  with  delibera- 
tion, and  only  half  as  much  as  if  he  had  eaten  at  the 
regular  time.  Sudden  and  severe  illness  has  often 
resulted  from  the  want  of  this  precaution,  and 
sometimes  death  has  followed. 

Many  men,  who  are  so  fortunate  as  to  have  no 
taste  for  liquor,  have  no  difficulty  in  declaring  that 
any  man  who  takes  daily  a  glass  of  wine  or  brandy 
can  have  no  religion ;  and  yet  these  same  men  will 
over-eat  themselves  throe  times  a  day,  until  the 
stomach,  constitution,  temper,  health,  all  are  ruined, 
and  the  remainder  of  their  days  are  spent  in  scrib- 
bling sickly  sentimentalities  for  other  people. 

The  memory,  like  a  true  friend,  is  made  the 
firmer  by  being  trusted ;  noting  down  trifling  things, 
is  the  very  way  to  destroy  what  remnant  of  memory 
you  have. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  203 

We  aim  to  show  how  disease  may  be  avoided, 
and  that  it  is  best,  when  sickness  comes,  to  take  no 
medicine  without  consulting  an  educated  physician. 

Physical  cleanliness,  and  moral  purity,  and  eleva- 
tion of  character  have  a  close  connection ;  while 
tidiness  in  dress  has  a  strong  alliance  to  strict 
justness  and  fitness  of  action. 

Great  eaters  never  live  long.  A  voracious  appe- 
tite, so  far  from  being  a  sign  of  health,  is  a  certain 
indication  of  disease.  Some  dyspeptics  are  always 
hungry,  feel  best  when  they  are  eating,  but  as 
soon  as  they  have  eaten  they  enter  torments,  so 
distressing  in  their  nature,  as  to  make  the  unhappy 
victim  wish  for  death.  The  appetite  of  health  is 
that  which  inclines  moderately  to  eat,  when  eating 
time  comes,  and  which,  when  satisfied,  leaves  no 
unpleasant  reminders. 

Real  business  men,  shrewd  and  keen-sighted, 
care  very  little  about  letters  of  recommendation 
from  anybody,  knowing  that  human  nature  is  very 
accommodating  in  giving  what  costs  nothing  more 
than  writing  a  few  well  expressed  sentences.  They 
know  that  truth  lies  in  things,  not  words ;  in  what 
they  see,  rather  than  in  what  they  hear.  A  youth 
would  not  get  a  clerkship  with  the  recommendation 
of  every  Governor  in  the  nation,  if  he  entered  a 
counting-room  with  a  cigar  in  his  mouth,  a  cane  in 
his  hand,  and  a  diamond  ring  on  his  finger. 


204  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

If  children  are  taught  to  eat  slowly,  in  loving 
good  nature,  —  as  will  be  the  case  if  tLey  are  let 
alone  by  their  parents,  and  not  put  in  an  ill  humor 
by  incessant  reprimands  and  innumerable  rules  and 
regulations  about  a  hundred  and  one  contemptible 
trifles,  —  they  may  generally  be  allowed,  for  break- 
fast and  dinner,  to  eat  as  long  and  as  much  as  they 
want,  if  all  the  hard  food  is  cut  up  carefully  with 
a  sharp  knife  into  pieces  not  larger  than  a  pea. 
This  should  be  conscientiously  and  always  attended 
to  by  one  of  the  parents,  for  it  cannot  be  safely 
intrusted  to  one  hireling  out  of  a  million ;  parental 
affection  only  will  do  it  as  it  ought  to  be  done. 

Many  a  young  man,  many  a  young  woman,  has 
taken  the  first  step  towards  degradation,  and  crime, 
and  disease,  after  ten  o'clock  at  night ;  at  which 
hour,  the  year  round,  the  old,  the  middle-aged,  and 
the  young  should  be  in  bed ;  and  the  early  rising 
will  take  care  of  itself,  with  the  incalculable  accom- 
paniment of  a  fuUy  rested  body  and  a  renovated 
brain.  We  repeat  it,  there  is  neither  wisdom,  nor 
safety,  nor  health  in  early  rising  in  itself ;  but  there 
is  all  of  them  in  the  persistent  practice  of  retiring 
to  bed  at  an  early  hour,  winter  and  summer. 

Amusement  is  as  much  a  necessity  to  the  mind 
as  food  is  to  the  body.  The  mind  is  vivified  by 
pleasurable  recreations  as  much  as  the  body  is  sus- 
tained by  a  nutritious  diet. 


DE.  hall's  maxims.  205 

Whatever  begets  pleasurable  and  harmless  feel- 
ings, promotes  hevilth ;  and  whatever  induces  disa- 
greeable sensations,  engenders  disease. 

No  man  was  made  to  be  a  loafer ;  it  is  a  crime 
against  one's  self,  a  crime  against  society,  a  crime 
against  the  Merciful  One,  who  has  enacted  the 
universal  law,  "  In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  thou  shalt 
eat  bread,"  with  the  added  injunction,  "  Be  diligent 
in  business." 

A  beautiful  singer  delights  a  whole  assembly ; 
a  beautiful  reader  not  only  delights,  but  instructs. 
A  fool  may  sing  divinely ;  but  a  good  reader  must 
possess  mind.  Let  the  parents,  then,  whose  daugh- 
ters have  no  taste  for  music,  no  ear  for  song,  but 
who  have  hearts  and  intellects  worthy  of  any  man, 
give  them  a  chance  of  showing  what  they  are  made 
of,  a  chance  of  making  their  way  in  the  world,  of 
cultivating  the  habit  of  reading  aloud  with  care, 
grace,  and  understanding,  and  thus  put  it  in  their 
power  of  bearing  their  part  in  the  entertainment 
of  any  company  into  which  they  may  be  thrown. 

If  a  man  in  good  health  has  not  eaten  anything 
for  some  days,  he  will  die  if  he  eats  heartily. 
When  persons  are  found  in  an  almost  starving  con- 
dition, light  food,  in  small  quantities,  and  at  short 
intervals,  is  essential  to  safety. 

The  more  out-door  air  and  cheery  sunshine  a 
man  can  use,  the  longer  he  will  live. 


206  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  greatest  hinderance  to  the  spread  of  religion 
is  the  want  of  a  clearer  line  of  demarcation  between 
those  who  are  in  the  church  and  those  who  are 
without.  Surely  we  have  no  right  to  hope  for  a 
rapid  diffusion  of  Christianity,  except  in  proportion 
as  its  true  friends  stand  out  from  the  world  in  beau- 
tiful distinctness  in  their  practices,  in  proportion  as 
they  tower  above  it  by  the  purity  of  their  princi- 
ples and  the  sternness  of  their  integrity.  The 
brightness  of  their  example  should  extend  to  their 
whole  life,  not  in  theory  merely,  but  in  practice ; 
not  in  one  thing,  but  in  all. 

The  benefit  of  exercise  consists  in  knowing  the 
how  and  the  when. 

It  ought  to  be  remembered  by  all,  that  it  is  far 
safer  and  much  less  disastrous  to  breathe  any  or- 
dinary bad  air,  if  warm,  than  to  be  in  the  purest  air 
on  the  globe,  if  it  is  cold  enough  to  cause  a  general 
chilliness,  or  a  partial  feeling  of  cold  for  a  very 
short  time,  such  as  on  the  back,  neck,  throat,  or 
any  other  susceptible  part.  Children  should  not 
be  allowed  to  sit  for  five  minutes  with  their  backs 
to  a  register,  stove,  or  fire,  nor  to  stand  over 
registers  for  a  moment,  nor  to  sit  near  one  for  any 
length  of  time ;  and  in  cold  weather  they  should  be 
made  to  bundle  up  before  leaving  the  school-room, 
and  be  counselled  to  run  home,  and  not  delay  a 
single  moment  on  the  way. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  207 

It  is  slow,  steady,  continuous  labor  which  brings 
health,  and  strength,  and  a  good  digestion.  Fitful 
labor  is  ruinous  to  all. 

The  mishaps  of  life  are  the  result  of  ignorance, 
carelessness,  or  wickedness  of  ourselves  or  others  ; 
we  should  in  every  case  seek  out  the  specific  cause, 
and  if  in  ourselves,  rectify  it ;  if  from  the  misdoing 
of  others,  endeavor  to  rectify  it  also ;  and  if  no 
human  efforts  can  accomplish  such  a  rectification, 
then,  and  not  till  then,  is  it  a  true  heroism  and  a 
sterling  piety,  a  genuine  "  resignation,"  to  say,  in 
loving  confidence  and  hope,  "  Thy  will  be  done." 

We  should  never  forget  that  the  immoderate  use 
of  any  thing  is  destructive  to  human  health  and 
life  if  persevered  in. 

Persons  sitting  in  a  cold  car  for  a  time  sufficient 
to  allow  them  to  get  thoroughly  chilled,  will 
scarcely  fail  to  sufier  from  an  attack  of  some  acute 
disease,  in  spite  of  a  subsequent  warming  up  by 
exercise  or  otherwise ;  while  it  is  well  known  that 
persons  may  remain  for  hours  in  an  apartment 
heated  to  a  hundred  degrees  and  over,  without  any 
permanent  discomfort,  if  they  are  careful  to  cool 
off  slowly. 

The  benevolent  live  long,  healthfully,  happUy, 
and  in  honor ;  the  selfish,  the  wicked,  shall  not  live 
out  half  their  days. 

Never  eat  without  an  inclination. 


208  DE.  hall's  maxims. 

Those  who  are  wise  will  take  no  tonics  for  the 
spring,  will  swallow  no  teas  to  purify  the  blood, 
nor  imagine  themselves  to  be  about  getting  sick, 
because  they  have  not  in  May  as  vigorous  an  ap- 
petite as  in  December,  but  will  at  once  yield  them- 
selves to  the  guidance  of  the  instincts,  and  eat  not 
an  atom  more  than  they  have  an  inclination  for,  to 
the  end  of  a  joyous  spring-time  and  a  summer  of 
glorious  health ;  while  those  who  will  eat,  who  will 
stimulate  the  stomach  with  tonics,  and  "  force  " 
their  food,  must  suffer  with  drowsiness,  depression, 
and  distressing  lassitude ;  and  while  all  nature  is 
waking  up  to  gladness  and  newness  of  life,  they 
will  have  no  renovation  and  no  well-springs  of  joy- 
ous and  exuberant  health. 

No  man  should  be  less  careful  of  himself  than  of 
Lis  horse.  And  if  a  strong  horse  needs  more 
covering  after  exercise,  in  order  to  protect  him 
from  a  sudden  and  fatal  disease,  much  more  so  does 
the  weaker  but  nobler  man. 

Inactivity  is  destruction  throughout  the  universe 
of  things.  The  human  body  as  a  whole,  or  as  to 
any  one  part,  is  no  exception  to  that  boundless  law. 
The  unused  arm  dwindles  to  skin  and  bone.  The 
unused  lungs  soon  weaken,  then  rot  away.  The 
brain  comes  within  the  universal  law  of  our  physi- 
cal being,  and  if  unused,  perishes  before  its  prime, 
either  in  whole  or  in  part. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  209 

The  best  position  after  eating  a  regular  meal  is, 
to  have  the  hands  behind  the  back,  the  head  erect, 
in  moderate  locomotion,  and  in  the  open  air,  if  the 
weather  is  not  chilly.  Half  an  hour  spent  in  this 
way  after  meals,  at  least  after  breakfast  and  dinner, 
would  add  health  and  length  of  days  to  women  in 
easy  life,  and  to  all  sedentary  men.  It  is  a  thought 
which  richly  merits  attention. 

There  is  no  disinfectant  universally  applicable. 
But  it  may  be  truly  said  that  the  best  plan,  and 
one  which  every  clean,  tidy,  and  sensible  person 
would  instinctively  adopt,  is  to  remove  all  causes 
of  disagreeable  or  unhealthy  odors ;  disinfectants 
should  only  be  used  when  that  is  impracticable. 

The  real  source  of  ninety-eight  per  cent,  of  the 
crime  of  a  country,  such  as  England  or  the  United 
States,  lies  at  the  door  of  the  parents.  It  is  a  fear- 
ful reflection  ;  we  throw  it  before  the  minds  of  the 
fathers  and  mothers  of  our  land,  and  there  leave  it, 
to  be  thought  of  in  wisdom,  remarking  only  as  to 
the  early  seeds  of  bodily  disease,  that  they  are 
nearly  in  every  case  sown  between  sundown  and 
bedtime,  in  absence  from  the  family  circle,  in  the 
supply  of  spending-money  never  earned  by  the 
spender,  opening  the  doors  of  confectioneries  and 
soda-fountains,  of  beer,  tobacco,  and  wine,  of  the 
circus,  negro  minstrel,  restaurant,  and  the  dance. 

Cheerful  conversation  prevents  rapid  eating. 
U 


210  DE.  hall's  maxims. 

Women  are  not  required  to  stand  in  prayer ;  it  is 
physiologically  hurtful ;  they  should  sit  or  kneel. 

It  is  a  great  mistake,  and  an  almost  universal 
one,  that  sudden  changes  from  one  temperature  to 
another  are  prejudicial  to  health.  If  persons  will 
close  their  mouth,  and  send  all  the  air  to  the  lungs 
through  the  circuit  of  the  head,  and  thus  temper  it 
to  the  air  of  the  lungs,  a  positive  benefit  wiU  result, 
although  there  may  be  a  change  of  ibrty  degrees  in 
a  second  of  time;  only  one  precsuitiou  is  needed  — 
shut  your  mouth,  and  keep  moving.  The  proof  of 
all  this  is,  railroad  conductors  are  lioalthy  men,  as 
a  class,  and  yet  their  changes  are  fifty  degrees 
hundreds  of  times  in  a  day. 

Many  persons  measure  their  wisdom  by  the 
amount  of  incredulity  which  they  can  exhibit. 

Our  manufactories  are  nearly  all  disgraceful  to 
their  owners  and  architects  in  regard  to  ventilation. 
They  are  often  divided  into  rooms  less  than  ten 
feet  high,  each  thickly  stowed  with  human  beings, 
who  breathe,  work,  and  sweat  in  an  atmosphere 
overheated,  and  filled  with  grease,  wool  or  cotton 
waste,  leather  or  cloth,  and  the  poisonous  refuse 
expelled  from  human  lungs,  which  together  are 
enough  to  incite  a  plague,  and  are  in  fact  the 
primary  cause  of  nearly  all  the  fevers,  dysenteries, 
consumptions,  <fec.,  by  which  so  many  graves  are 
peopled. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  211 

Never  read  or  aiw  directly  in  front  of  the  light, 
window  or  door. 

Great  students  have  great  appetites.  Hard 
study  makes  a  healthy  man  as  hungry  as  hard 
work.  The  employment  of  the  brain,  hard  think- 
ing, exhausts  a  man's  strength  as  certainly  and 
completely  as  any  form  of  bodily  labor.  Girls, 
boys,  and  young  men  at  school,  academy,  or  college 
are  always  ready  to  eat  something,  and  can  eat 
almost  anything  lor  a  while  after  they  have  entered 
upon  their  studies. 

Flies  have  a  perfect  antipathy  against  clean 
houses.     Flies  revel  in  filth,  the  world  over. 

Nine  tenths  of  those  who  are  rich  to-day,  began 
married  life  poor,  relying  on  themselves  alone ; 
while  their  coevals,  who  loaned  on  "  rich  relations," 
or  married  a  wife  whose  "  father "  wasn't  "  in 
heaven,"  —  hence  hvod  to  fail  in  business,  leaving 
nothing  behind  him  but  his  debts,  —  have  been 
civilly  and  socially,  if  not  physically,  dead  many 
years. 

The  instant  you  are  burned  or  scalded,  place  the 
part  in  cold  water ;  this  gives  perfect  relief  in  a 
second  |  then  get  some  flour  and  cover  the  burned 
part  completely,  and  let  it  remain  till  it  gets  well. 

Never  go  to  sleep,  especially  after  a  great  effort, 
even  in  hot  weather,  without  some  covering  over 
you. 


212  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Ventilation  is  a  subject  which  should  be  under 
stood  by  every  human  being,  not  only  that  man 
may  apply  it  to  himself,  but  also  to  the  domestic 
animals,  for  their  well-being  is  in  a  sense  very  in- 
timately connected  with  our  own ;  hence  duty  and 
humanity  demand  our  attention  to  the  subject; 
and  if  for  the  brutes  that  perish,  much  more  for 
our  servants,  and,  above  all,  our  children. 

Avoid  fats  and  fat  meats  in  summer,  and  in  all 
warm  days. 

No  wise  man  would  experiment  on  his  own  body, 
and  health,  and  life,  on  the  loose  statements  of 
anonymous  newspaper  writers. 

There  are  some  men  who  look  as  if  they  had 
never  smiled ;  there  is  a  pitiful  sadness,  with  an 
unmistakable  expression  of  feature,  a  kind  of 
hopelessness,  as  if  they  were  kept  under  all  the 
time  at  home.  They  do  not  exactly  die ;  it  is  a 
great  pity  they  did  not ;  they  seem  to  have  got 
used  to  it,  and  settled  down  in  a  state  of  sorrowful 
submission ;  they  had  not  sense  enough  to  maintain 
their  liberties,  nor  energy  enough  to  run  away  when 
everything  was  lost.  There  are  other  men,  brave, 
indomitable  ;  who  live  above  the  present ;  who,  hav- 
ing found  themselves  "  in  a  fix  "  by  having  made  a 
grand  mistake  in  marriage,  have  made  a  virtue  of 
necessity,  and  have  proudly  determined  to  endure 
to  the  end  of  the  chapter. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  213 

Many  an  excellent  receipt  becomes  worthless  in 
the  hands  of  those  who  try  it,  in  consequence  of 
not  making  the  experiment  fairly. 

We  take  up  a  dollar,  coined  in  the  infancy  of  our 
republic  ;  the  man  who  moulded  it  has  been  dead 
for  half  a  century.  And  yet,  how  many  throbs  of 
gratification  has  it  excited,  as  it  has  been  laid  in 
the  hand  !  and  how  many  a  hungry  mouth  has  it 
fed  !  and  yet  it  is  as  good  as  ever,  and  may  con- 
tinue to  gladden  the  joyless  and  feed  the  hungry 
for  a  hundred  years  to  come.  But  there  is  a 
remarkable  difierence  between  a  good  idea  and  a 
good  dollar.  The  dollar  is  always  received  with 
pleasure ;  but  it  is  parted  with  with  a  pang.  But 
a  good  idea,  well  coined  in  words,  gratifies  him  who 
gives  as  well  as  him  who  receives.  One  sterling 
truth,  clothed  in  words  of  vigor,  keennees,  or  sweet- 
ness, spoken  or  printed,  passes  from  mouth  to  mouth, 
from  paper  to  paper,  from  page  to  page,  and  will 
happify  a  million  hearts.  The  dollar  can  be  used 
by  only  one  at  a  time,  and  but  at  one  place  in  the 
same  instant ;  but  the  mental  coin,  by  the  art  of 
all  arts,  can  be  used  by  multitudes,  in  all  lands,  at 
the  same  instant,  distilling  its  sweetness  on  both 
giver  and  receiver  everywhere,  to  be  perpetuated 
for  generations  yet  unborn. 

Fear  will  excite  a  deadly  attack  of  cholera  in  a 
few  hours. 


214  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

A  SINGLE  teaspoonful  of  vinegar  in  each  glass  of 
water  will  effectually  prevent  any  ill  effects  from 
using  the  water  of  limestone  localities  by  those 
accustomed  to  other  kinds  of  drinking-water. 

What  a  grand  thing  it  is  to  have  an  unwavering 
faith  in  every  word,  and  syllable,  and  letter  of  the 
sacred  Scriptures  !  to  feel  that  they  are  nothing 
less  than  the  utterances  of  the  great  Father  of  us 
all,  to  comfort,  and  guide,  and  cheer,  and  sustain  in 
all  life's  pilgrimage  1 

In  any  company  of  a  dozen  persons  if  one  com- 
plains of  anything,  from  the  scratch  of  a  pin  to  a 
cancer,  enough  remedies  will  be  volunteered  in  five 
minutes  to  kill  a  regiment  of  common  men  —  ad- 
vised, too,  with  all  the  confidence  that  it  is  possible 
for  ignorance  to  possess. 

Moderately  hot  bread  is  not  injurious,  but  is 
positively  beneficial. 

Nearly  all  our  Presidents  have  been  men  of  vig- 
orous  health,  of  hardy  constitutions ;  this  is  instruc- 
tively suggestive  of  the  connection  there  is  between 
high  health  and  the  ability  to  achieve  the  distinc- 
tions to  which  these  men  arrived. 

The  general  laws  of  mind  are  alike  all  over  the 
world,  whether  in  hut,  or  palace,  or  poor-house. 

No  medicine  that  any  man  can  take  in  health  will 
protect  him  from  disease. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  216 

The  first  necessity  of  a  boil,  or  sore,  or  wound, 
is  to  keep  it  moist ;  that  keeps  down  inflammation, 
pain,  mortification,  and  death.  To  do  this,  a  plain 
milk-and-bread  poultice  is  the  best,  being  accessi- 
bloy  simple,  and  safe  —  to  say  nothing  of  the  advan- 
tage it  has  over  many  others,  that  it  may  be  so 
readily  re-moistened,  and  thus  cleaned  off. 

We  earnestly  advise  young  men  to  let  the  char- 
acter of  the  mother  have  a  large  influence  in  deter- 
mining their  choice  of  a  wife  —  a  choice  which 
makes  or  mars  the  lot  of  life,  and  often  moulds  the 
destiny  beyond. 

Make  virtue  feel  that  it  is  encouraged,  and  vice 
that  it  is  frowned  upon.  Let  justice  and  truth  be 
exhibited  in  every  act  of  life. 

Many  a  person  has  dropped  dead  at  the  pump, 
or  at  the  spring ;  such  a  result  is  more  certain, 
if,  in  addition  to  the  person  being  very  warm  at 
the  time  of  drinking,  there  is  also  great  bodily 
fatigue. 

All  locomotion  should  be  avoided  when  the 
bowels  are  thin,  watery,  or  weakening. 

Fortunate  are  they,  who,  while  they  are  living, 
can  witness  the  fruit  of  their  good  doings,  and  are 
further  rewarded  by  evidences  of  a  grateful  appre- 
ciation on  the  part  of  those  for  whose  benefit  they 
Uve  and  labor. 


216  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

For  those  who  cannot  sleep  from  the  unsatisfao 
toiy  condition  of  their  affairs ;  who  feel  as  if  the)- 
were  going  behindhand ;  or  that  they  are  about  to 
encounter  great  losses,  whether  from  their  own  re- 
missness, the  perfidy  of  friends,  or  unavoidable 
circumstances,  we  have  a  deep  and  sincerb  sym- 
pathy. To  such  we  say,  Live  hopefully  fot  better 
days  ahead,  and  meanwhile  strive  diligently,  per- 
sistently, and  with  a  brave  heart  to  that  end. 

The  safest  and  best  method  of  getting  rid  of  bil- 
iousness  ie  steady  work  in  the  open  air,  for  six  or 
eight  hours  every  day,  working  or  exercising  to 
the  extent  of  keeping  up  a  gentle  moisture  on  the 
skin ;  this  moisture  conveys  the  bile  away  out  of 
the  system ;  the  same  result  will  be  accomplished, 
but  not  so  well,  by  a  good  steam  bath,  or  by  wrap- 
ping up  in  bed,  drinking  hot  teas,  thus  *'  getting 
up  a  perspiration,"  but  the  atmosphere  of  the  room 
ghouid  08  pure,  and  the  diet  for  several  days 
should  consist  of  ^oarse  bread  and  fruits.  Medi- 
cines wnicn  "  HOI  on  the  ayar ''  will  do  the  same 
thing,  but  t'^i?y  should  be  advised  by  the  physician, 
when  otb-'ir  means  have  failed. 

It  m^y  be  a  more  potent  and  convincing  argu- 
ment against  the  pestiferous  effects  of  furnace 
heat,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  some,  that  it  ruins  the 
furniture  and  wood-wcrk  of  all  buildings  into  which 
it  is  introduced 


DE.  hall's  maxims.  217 

Whether  a  man  kills  himself  with  whiskey,  or 
tobacco,  or  food,  the  crime  is  the  same.  A  man  is 
equally  a  suicide,  whether  by  drinking,  smoking,  or 
gluttony.  Excessive  smoking,  excessive  drinking, 
excessive  eating,  are  the  results  of  an  abandon- 
ment to  an  animal  appetite,  to  an  animal  indul- 
gence; such  indulgence  is  beastly,  it  is  ignoble,  it  is 
pitiful. 

Feeble  persons  will  be  benefited  by  hot  drinks, 
because  they  warm  up  the  body,  excite  the  circula- 
tion, and  thus  promote  digestion,  if  taken  while 
eating,  and  not  exceeding  a  cupful. 

Let  those  who  are  starting  out  in  life,  stand  on 
their  own  bottom:  if  they  start  upon  the  race  on  an 
even  footing  with  others,  and  win  their  way  by  the 
power  of  their  own  right  arm,  then  they  will  have 
the  proud  consciousness  through  life  that  they 
have  made  themselves  what  they  are,  and  that  they 
owe  their  success  wholly  to  themselves.  Such  a 
feeling  is,  of  itself,  worth  a  small  fortune,  and  is 
more  enduring,  because  it  may  be  pleasurably 
drawn  upon  without  diminution  to  the  end  of  life. 

Sick  headache  is  almost  always  attended  with 
cold  feet,  and  the  failure  of  a  daily  action  of  the 
bowels ;  and  there  is  no  permament  cure  without 
the  rectification  of  these. 

The  want  of  facilities  for  exercise,  is  the  great 
trouble  with  clergymen. 


218  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  remedies  for  cougli,  cold,  and  consumption 
are  innumerable,  the  combinations  of  ingredients 
are  infinite ;  but  if  the  reader  is  observant,  not 
one  in  a  hundred  will  there  be  which  has  not 
opium  in  the  form  of  paregoric,  laudanum,  or  mor- 
phia, giving  water  on  the  brain  every  year  to  mul- 
titudes of  children,  and  appolexies,  or  ruinous 
results  to  the  digestive  organs  of  adults. 

Forcing  food,  that  is,  eating  when  you  are  not 
hungry,  is  a  wicked  waste,  is  fighting  against  nar 
ture,  and  puts  you  below  the  level  of  a  brute,  for 
brutes  never  go  against  their  instincts. 

The  great  man  owes  his  sufferings  more  to  hard 
eating  than  to  hard  study ;  more  to  the  filthy  habit 
of  postponing  Nature's  calls  than  to  overwork; 
and  hence  merits  our  contempt  more  than  our 
sympathy. 

Dress  substantially,  better  to  be  hot  for  two 
or  three  hours  at  noon,  than  to  be  cool  for  the  re* 
mainder  of  the  twenty -four. 

An  injury  done  to  any  part  of  the  body  may  tte 
resisted,  or  if  not,  may  be  repaired  by  the  cura- 
tive  energies  of  nature ;  but  if  these  injuries  are 
frequently  repeated,  the  strength  of  nature  is  ex- 
hausted in  endeavoring  to  make  repairs ;  then  she 
remains  prostrate  and  powerless,  and  disease  has 
unbridled  away. 


DB.  hall's  mazihs.  219 

It  is  a  barbarism  to  compel  children  to  eat 
fat  meat,  or  lean  meat,  or  any  other  article  of 
food  for  which  there  is  not  only  no  relish,  but  an 
unconquerable  antipathy.  The  instincts  of  a  child 
should  be  respected,  because  they  are  implanted  in 
its  very  nature  for  its  well  being,  as  in  the  animal 
creation.  You  might  as  wisely  try  to  make  a  kitten 
eat  white  beans,  or  compel  a  chicken  to  drink  salt 
water.  Never  war  against  the  instincts  of  the 
child ;  lead  rather  than  drive ;  persuade  rather 
than  punish;  convince  rather  than  convict;  lose 
your  right  arm  rather  than  take  advantage  of  its 
unresisting  helplessness;  bear  rather  than  beat;  re- 
membering that,  "of  such  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven." 

The  best  insurance  is  a  temperate,  rational  life, 
with  the  immense  advantage,  that  the  insured,  in 
this  case,  lives  to  enjoy  his  policy,  instead  of  its 
being  done  by  the  husband  of  his  widow. 

The  thinnest  gauze  of  our  stores,  when  thrown 
over  the  face,  exposed  to  a  keen,  bitter  wind,  af- 
fords a  degree  of  relief  scarcely  credible  from  so 
frail  a  material. 

As  nothing  gives  the  body  more  enduring 
strength  than  plain,  substantial  meat  and  bread,  so 
the  intellect  and  the  affections  are  strengthened  by 
the  exercise  of  those  real  benevolences  which  every- 
day life,  in  cities  especially,  so  loudly  call  for. 

We  estimate  people  from  what  we  see. 


220  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Without  a  full  and  free  exposure  to  out-door 
air,  regardless  of  all  weathers,  no  case  of  consump- 
tion ever  has  been  cured;  while  with  it,  and  it 
alone,  many  cases  may. 

Bad  teeth  induce  dyspepsia,  from  insufficient 
chewing  of  the  food ;  they  also  corrupt  the  breath, 
and  are  frequently  the  cause  of  serious  and  distress- 
ing disease;  while  good  teeth  not  only  beautify  the 
face,  but  promote  health  and  long  life  ;  hence,  spe- 
cial care  expended  on  their  preservation,  will  be  re- 
paid a  hundred  fold  in  the  course  of  a  lifetime. 

To  be  in  moderate  circumstances,  and  take  the 
world  easy,  is  the  true  philosophy  of  life. 

The  constitution  of  man  adapts  itself  to  aU 
climates. 

The  hardships  which  the  human  body  can  en- 
dure are  incredible  until  seen,  and  when  en- 
countered without  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors, 
leave  the  constitution  as  firm  and  as  capable  of 
new  endurances  as  it  was  at  the  beginning. 

If  a  man  is  healthy  and  well-to-do,  and  is  not  busy 
in  his  calling,  he  will  seldom  fail  to  become  dyspep- 
tic, intemperate,  or  restless,  and  die  prematurely. 
Hence,  to  have  a  life  of  sunshine,  a  man  must  live 
healthfally,  must  have  a  reasonably  profitable  call- 
ing, and  must  be  busy  and  buoyant  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  it. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  221 

Systematic  temperance  in  eating  and  drinking  is 
capable  of  shielding  the  human  body  from  the  pes- 
tilences of  all  climes,  and  from  the  fatal  diseases  of 
all  latitudes. 

The  hardships  which  great  travellers  are  called 
to  encounter,  do,  by  their  large  exposure  to  out- 
door air  and  daily  bodily  activity,  consolidate  the 
constitution,  and  make  it  more  healthy,  while  the 
mental  powers  take  their  share  of  increased  vigor 
and  activity. 

It  is  a  truth,  which  should  be  kept  sight  of  in  all 
human  maladies,  that  great  Nature  is  our  safest  and 
wisest  teacher. 

In  all  great  undertakings,  requiring  persistent 
endurance  of  toil,  and  privation,  and  exposure, 
those  are  most  likely  to  succeed  who  discard 
alcoholic  drinks  of  every  description,  and  make  up 
their  minds  to  the  temperate  indulgence  of  all  the 
appetites. 

Grown  persons  who  use  sweet  milk  largely  every 
day,  invariably  become  bilious  or  constipated,  un- 
less steady,  hard  labor  in  the  open  air  every  day 
allows  its  use  with  impunity. 

Alcohol  has  an  affinity  for  the  brain.  Within  an 
hour  after  a  glass  of  brandy  is  swallowed,  more  of 
it  is  found  in  a  given  quantity  of  brain  than  in  any 
equal  quantity  of  blood. 


222  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

The  history  of  all  past  times  does  not  aflford  a 
single,  solitary  example  of  a  man's  repenting  that 
he  had  had  too  much  practical  faith  in  the  Christian 
religion,  but  multitudes  that  they  had  too  little  ;  so, 
no  man  who  has  lived  a  regular,  temperate  life  to  a 
good  old  age  has  ever  professed  a  regret  that  he 
had  not  lived  differently.  And  as  the  mistaken 
advocates  of  false  religious  systems  have  bitterly 
regretted  their  delusions  in  the  searching  ordeal 
of  a  dying  hour,  so,  on  the  other  hand,  do  the  vic- 
tims of  animal  appetites,  and  propensities,  and  un- 
matured notions  pertaining  to  human  well-being, 
deplore  the  folly  which  led  them  into  plausible, 
untested,  untried  ways  of  living  healthfully,  hap- 
pily, and  long.  Therefore,  not  more  surely  will 
that  man  attain  "  immortality  and  eternal  life  "  who 
walks  in  the  "  old  paths  "  of  love  to  God  and  love 
to  man,  practically  carried  out  in  every  day  of  his 
pilgrimage  towards  the  tomb,  than  that  those  who 
"  use  this  world  as  not  abusing  it,"  and  its  good 
things,  will  find  a  sweet  satisfaction  in  the  same  as 
long  as  they  live.  Hence  they  are  wisest  who  live 
in  the  temperate  use  and  rational  enjoyment  of  all 
the  good  things  of  this  life. 

Hope  is  the  highest  remedy  of  the  soul,  the  most 
efiicient  for  the  body. 

Stings  and  bites  are  often  instantaneously  cured 
by  washing  them  in  hartshorn  or  turpentine. 


DR   hall's  maxims.  223 

A  STATE  of  laboi  is  the  natural  habitual  state  of 
man ;  animal  indulgences  —  incidental,  occasional ; 
and  in  proportion  as  this  law  is  reversed,  in  such 
proportion  does  it  tend  to  the  extinction  of  the  race 

Nature  is  never  cheated. 

Intelligence  is  a  great  help  to  a  man  in  bearing 
the  difficulties  and  exposures  of  life,  enabling  him 
to  survive  hardships  under  which  the  uncultivated 
soon  sink  into  the  grave. 

Between  the  opening  of  spring  and  the  close  of 
summer,  looseness  of  the  bowels  is  very  prevalent. 
The  employment  of  salted  ham,  broiled,  two  or  three 
« times  a  week,  in  warm  weather,  is  a  preventive,  to 
a  considerable  extent,  in  persons  of  temperate,  reg- 
nlar  habits. 

I  CONSIDER  it  a  statistical  fact,  that  three  out  of 
four  of  all  the  clergy  who  are  prematurely  set  aside 
as  unavailable  workers,  are  thus  set  aside  in  conse- 
quence of  errors  in  diet. 

Half  the  girls  have  dyspepsia  before  they  are 
seventeen,  in  consequence  of  their  everlasting  nib- 
bling at  everything  in  the  house.  The  most  nat- 
ural and  healthful  times  for  eating  would  seem  to 
be  at  daylight,  noon,  and  sundown ;  the  last  meal 
being  very  light  indeed. 

There  is  no  vice  of  the  appetite  which  does  not 
find  advocates  among  otherwise  respectable  people. 


224  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Let  everything  that  has  the  most  distant  re 
semblance  to  a  contemptible  whine,  to  a  devilish 
fault-finding,  to  a  brutal  boorishness,  and  to  a  nar- 
row-minded and  degrading  selfishness,  be  consid- 
ered as  emanations  from  that  pit  of  darkness  where 
fiends  and  furies  dwell.  Then  shall  light  be  in 
every  family  dwelling,  cheerfulness  in  every  face, 
and  the  twinkle  of  gladness  in  every  eye  ;  while 
every  heart  overflows  with  a  joy  so  pure  that  even 
angels  might  envy  its  sweetness  and  its  bliss. 

Throat-ail  is  like  a  fire,  the  sooner  you  know 
of  its  existence  the  better ;  and  like  a  fire,  too,  which 
seldom  goes  out  of  itself;  so  throat-ail  seldom,  in- 
deed, gets  well  of  itself,  but  burrows  and  deepens 
until  it  undermines  the  constitution,  wastes  away 
the  health,  and  strength,  and  flesh,  and  finally  fas- 
tening itself  in  the  lungs,  completes  the  wreck  and 
ruin  of  the  whole  man. 

The  abuse  of  medicine  by  the  ignorant  and  un- 
principled more  than  counterbalances  its  good 
efiects  in  the  hands  of  educated  and  skilful  prac- 
titioners. 

The  less  it  costs  a  man  to  live,  the  less  laborious 
will  be  his  life,  the  longer  it  will  last,  and  the  more 
genial  and  mellow  will  be  his  advancing  years,  and 
eventually,  without  an  ache  or  a  pain,  he  will  dry 
up  entirely,  will  evaporate,  and  leave  this  mundane 
sphere  without  a  jolt  or  a  jar. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  225 

The  whole  system  of  female  fashionable  educa- 
tion is  an  abortion  and  a  curse.  Our  daughters  are 
not  trained  for  wives,  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word, 
but  for  ladies,  for  puppets,  for  dolls,  for  playthings. 

Smoking  is  a  useless,  expensive,  selfish,  and  filthy 
practice ;  it  leads  to  drunkenness  in  many  cases, 
and  it  is  rare  to  find  a  drunkard  who  does  not 
smoke ;  the  man  who  smokes  every  day  is  never 
safe  from  the  gutter ;  and  he  who  deliberately  runs 
this  risk  has  not  the  courage  to  avoid  any  other  sink 
of  moral  degradation,  were  it  not  for  the  fear  of 
being  found  out. 

Boxing  the  ears  is  an  inexcusable  brutality; 
many  a  child  has  been  made  deaf  for  life  by  it, 
because  the  "  drum  of  the  ear  "  is  a  membrane,  as 
thin  as  paper,  stretching  like  a  curtain  just  inside 
the  external  entrance  of  the  ear.  There  is  nothing 
but  air  just  behind  it,  and  any  violent  concussion 
is  liable  to  rend  it  in  two,  and  the  hearing  is  de- 
stroyed forever,  because  the  sense  of  hearing  is 
caused  by  the  vibrations  of  this  drum,  or  "  tym- 
panum." 

People  who  have  good  health  do  not  have  pre- 
sentiments, which  are  really  the  offspring  of  idle- 
ness and  gluttony,  of  an  overloaded  stomach,  of  a 
brain  fed  with  bad  blood ;  for  that  innumerable  mul- 
titude who  over-eat  every  day  have  neither  good 
blood,  good  sense,  nor  a  good  conscience. 
15 


226  DB.  ball's  maxims. 

Childben  should  be  kept  as  warmly  clad,  at  least 
until  May,  as  in  the  depth  of  winter ;  they  should 
not  be  allowed  to  remain  out  of  doors  later  than 
sundown,  when  they  should  be  brought  into  a  warm 
room,  their  feet  examined,  and  made  dry  and  warm, 
their  suppers  given  them,  and  then  sent  to  bed,  not 
to  go  outside  the  doors  until  next  morning  after 
breakfast. 

Many  persons,  especially  clergymen,  sometimes 
encounter  exposures,  which  result  in  death,  under 
an  indefinable  impression  that  their  motives  or 
their  work  will,  somehow  or  other,  secure  them  an 
impunity  against  their  efiects. 

A  CLEAN  scalp  and  pure  soft  water  are  the  best 
pomatums  in  the  world  for  man  or  woman,  boy 
or  girl,  young  or  old. 

Blue  reminiscences  are,  for  the  most  part,  unre- 
munerative.  A  hearty,  whole-souled,  wide-mouthed 
laugh  is  incomparably  more  healthful ;  it  enlivens 
the  circulation,  mollifies  the  heart,  and  wakes  us  up 
to  newness  of  life. 

A  MAN  in  pain  does  not  want  to  be  talked  to  — 
he  wants  relief,  not  words.  If  all  could  know,  as 
physicians  do,  the  inestimable  value  of  quiet  com- 
posure, and  a  confident  air  on  the  part  of  one  who 
attempts  to  aid  a  sufferer,  they  would  be  practised 
with  ceaseless  assiduity  by  the  considerate  and  the 
humane. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  227 

Medical  quackery  brings  on  insidious  diseases 
more  destructive  than  those  they  attempt  to  cure. 
Moral  and  religious  quackery  will  do  the  samf^ 
thing. 

The  medicine  which  we  most  unhesitatingly  take 
for  all  the  aches  and  ills  that  our  flesh  is  heir  to, 
which  is  uniformly  successful,  and  which  we  almost 
daily  recommend  with  the  highest  confidence,  and 
which  comes  next  in  our  esteem  to  the  two  great 
remedies  of  air  and  exorcise,  and  which  nobody  but 
a  doctor  can  be  induced  to  take,  except  now  and 
then  a  sensible  man  among  a  million,  is  the  tincture 
of  time,.  The  reason  of  its  want  of  proper  confi- 
dence is,  that  it  costs  nothing  and  has  no  mystery 
about  it. 

If  persons  wish  to  be  aided  in  securing  an 
habitual  carriage  of  body  in  walking,  they  should 
accustom  themselves  to  carry  their  hands  behind 
them,  one  hand  grasping  the  opposite  wrist. 

It  is  beyond  dispute,  that  always  and  everywhere 
those  who  drink  most  of  liquors  in  any  shape, — beer, 
brandy,  whiskey,  or  rum,  —  soonest  give  out,  soonest 
get  sick,  and  are  slowest  to  recover. 

Let  it  be  remembered,  that  a  clean  garment  has 
more  warmth  in  it  than  a  soiled  one,  and  that  a  small 
hole  or  rent  lets  in  a  largo  amount  of  cold  air,  enough 
to  occasion,  in  some  circumstances,  a  life-long 
rheumatism. 


228  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Fatal  forms  of  fever,  loose  bowels,  and  bloody 
discharges  are  often  occasioned  by  a  sudden  check 
of  perspiration  from  chilly  winds  or  cold  night  air ; 
80  when  perspiring  even  a  little,  either  keep  in 
moderate  motion,  go  to  a  fire,  or  put  on  an  addi- 
tional coat  or  blanket. 

Nature  is  like  a  perfect  housekeeper ;  she  knows 
better  what  is  wanting  in  her  house  than  anybody 
can  tell  her. 

"  What  is  good  for  the  goose  is  good  for  the 
gander,"  may  have  a  certain  amount  of  truth  in  it ; 
but  what  is  good  for  a  goose  is  not  necessarily  and 
therefore  good  for  a  jackass.  Yet  this  is  the  line 
of  argument  used  by  many,  and  is  sometimes  found 
in  books,  and  magazines,  and  newspapers  in  refer- 
ence to  health  and  disease.  A  man,  for  example,  is 
sick  of  anything  or  nothing ;  takes  something,  and 
soon  gets  weU  ,  he  has  great  faith  in  that  medicine, 
and  thereafter  takes  it  for  every  ailment  in  his  own 
person,  and  recommends  it  freely  and  confidently  to 
any  one  who  may  be  sick,  without  any  special  regard 
to  the  nature  of  the  malady. 

If  a  child  from  two  to  twelve  years  old  com- 
plains of  a  sore  throat,  and  has  a  most  ofi'ensive 
breath,  send  instantly  for  a  physician. 

Multitudes  of  fatal  errors  in  relation  to  health 
and  life  are  thrown  upon  the  world  from  time  to 
time  by  thoughtless  or  ignorant  writers. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  229 

Intelligence  is  the  best  life-preserver.  The 
largest  city  in  the  civilized  world  is  healthier  than 
its  surrounding  agricultural  district.  The  aristo- 
cratic regiment  of  New  York  was  gone  a  month  or 
two  to  the  war,  and  returned  with  the  loss  of  but 
one  man  in  eight  hundred,  and  he  died  of  heart 
disease,  of  long  duration.  Of  some  ninety  persons 
who  went  to  the  army,  in  various  capacities,  from 
one  church,  no  more  died  of  all  causes  than  among 
an  equal  number  at  home.  These  things  seem  to 
show  that  intelligence,  especially  connected  with 
social  elevation,  is  promotive  of  health ;  and  con- 
sidering that  an  active,  out-door  soldier's  life  works 
disease  out  of  the  system,  especially  where  there  is 
no  addiction  to  social  vices,  there  is  good  ground 
for  believing  that  even  with  the  addition  of  the 
casualties  of  war,  there  need  not  be  any  more 
deaths  in  a  given  time  among  a  given  number  of 
men,  than  there  would  have  been  in  the  same  men 
had  they  remained  at  home. 

The  most  positive  people  are  the  most  ignorant, 
both  as  to  matters  of  law  and  medicine. 

True  natures  ripen  and  strengthen  in  suffering ; 
but  it  is  that  suffering  which  chastens  and  enobles 
—  that  which  clears  the  spiritual  sight;  not  the 
anxiety  lest  work  should  fail,  and  the  want  of  daily 
bread.  The  beauty  of  suffering  is  not  to  be  read 
in  the  face  of  hunger. 


230  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Of  two  persons  having  consumption,  with  appar. 
ently  equal  chances  of  life,  the  man  who  abandons 
himself  to  his  fate,  hugs  the  fire,  and  is  afraid  to 
stir  out  of  doors  lest  he  should  take  cold,  inevitably 
dies  in  a  short  time;  the  other,  having  force  of 
character,  indomitable  determination,  and  a  truer 
philosophy,  considers  that  life  is  worth  striving  for, 
that  he  can  but  die  anyhow,  and  braving  all  winds 
and  weathers,  fights  courageously  against  his  mala- 
dy, and  lives  to  be  an  old  man.  So  it  is  in  some 
forms  of  paralysis,  rheumatism,  and  other  disable- 
ments, the  exercise  of  a  true  philosophy  is  mani- 
fested in  brave  resolves  to  live  down  disease,  to  live 
above  it,  and  by  sheer  force  of  wiU  to  break  the 
spell  Avhich  was  thrown  over  the  succumbing  body ; 
thus  the  mind  may,  and  olten  does,  become  a  power 
over  human  maladies  more  efficient  than  the  most 
famed  medicines  of  the  apothecary. 

The  grains  proper  of  this  country  are  not  ap- 
preciated, as  they  ought  to  be,  for  daily  food  at 
our  tables ;  these  are  Indian  corn,  wheat,  rye, 
barley,  and  oats ;  they  contain  all  the  elements  of 
nutrition  necessary  to  the  support  of  the  human 
system,  and  if  they  could  be  used  for  two  of  the 
daily  meals,  as  breakfast  and  supper,  without  any- 
thing else,  there  would  be  an  incalculable  advan- 
tage to  the  soundness  of  the  teeth,  the  strength  of 
the  bones,  the  hardness  of  the  muscles,  the  endur- 
ance of  the  body,  and  the  vigor  of  the  brain. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  231 

The  most  common  way  to  a  premature  grave, 
and  one  of  the  shortest  cuts  to  that  destination,  is 
down  a  man's  throat.  There  is  a  multitude,  which 
no  man  can  number,  daily  eating  immoderately, 
thus  sapping  the  constitution,  and  laying  the  foun- 
dation for  innumerable  ills  and  a  too  early  grave. 
The  wise  man  does  it,  and  the  fool ;  the  virtuous 
and  the  abandoned ;  the  kind  and  the  cross,  of  all 
climes,  are  among  the  errorists.  But  there  are 
some  who  are  wise  as  to  this  point,  and  the  num- 
ber is  increasing;  the  number  of  those  who  are 
men  and  women  of  force;  who  think  for  them- 
selves, observe  for  themselves ;  who  have  vigor  of 
intellect  enough  to  compare  causes  and  eflfects,  an- 
tecedents and  consequents. 

.  Hard  study  does  not  of  itself  shorten  life,  but 
does  of  itself  tend  to  increase  the  longevity  of  man. 
When  hard  students  die  early,  it  will  be  found  that 
in  some  way  they  had  fallen  into  the  habit  of 
violating  some  of  the  laws  of  nature,  or  began 
study  with  some  inherited  infirmity.  The  pursuit 
of  truth  is  pleasurable ;  it  is  exhilarating ;  it  is 
exalting,  and  promotes  serenity.  Of  all  men,  nat- 
ural philosophers  average  the  longest  lives.  The 
great,  the  governing  reason  is,  in  addition  to  the 
above,  that  their  attention  is  drawn  away  from  the 
indulgence  of  animal  appetites;  their  gratifica- 
tions are  not  in  that  direction;  hence  they  are 
neither  gourmands,  drunkards,  nor  licentious. 


232  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  top  of  the  head  is  most  profusely  supplied 
with  blood-vessels,  yet  men  grow  bald  there  first,  by 
keeping  the  head  too  warm  ;  also,  and  chiefly,  by  the 
prevalent  fashion,  for  generations  past,  of  wearing 
hard  fur  and  silk  hats,  which,  by  their  pressure  all 
around  the  head,  forcibly  detain  the  blood  from  the 
top  of  the  head :  there  is  seldom  baldness  below 
where  the  hat  touches  the  head.  None  of  the 
writer's  playmates  are  known  to  be  bald  at  ages 
from  forty  to  sixty-five ;  it  was  the  universal  cus- 
tom among  them  as  boys  to  wear  loose  woollen 
hats,  answering  to  the  felt  hats  now  in  fasliion. 
To  prevent  thin  hair  and  premature  baldness, 
first,  keep  a  clean  scalp ;  second,  never  wear  the 
hair  on  a  strain,  or  against  the  direction  of  its 
growth ;  third,  never  apply  anything  to  it  but  soap- 
suds or  pure  water ;  fourth,  wear  loose-fitting,  soft 
hats ;  fifth,  let  men  and  children  always  wear  the 
hair  very  short,  and  both  men  and  women  should 
brush  the  hair  a  great  deal,  using  only  a  coarse 
comb,  which  should  touch  the  scalp  only  in  the 
slightest  manner  possible. 

Headaches  in  children  should  always  be  prompt- 
ly attended  to,  as  they  indicate  the  approach  of 
serious  diseases,  as  scarlet  fever,  small-pox, 
measles,  and  other  grave  skin  affections. 

Always  eat  slowly  and  in  moderation  of  weU 
divided  food. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  233 

September  gives  rise  to  more  disease  in  town 
and  country  together  than  any  other  mouth  of  the 
year.  It  is  fruitful  in  diarrhoea,  dysentery,  and 
fevers  of  every  grade,  from  common  fever  and 
ague  to  the  most  malignant  form  of  bilious,  con- 
gestive, and  yellow  fever.  The  immediate  causes 
of  these  maladies  are  the  hot  days  and  cool  nights, 
in  conjunction  with  the  habits  of  the  people.  Few 
persons  have  hearty  appetites  in  hot  weather  — 
our  instincts  are  too  wide  awake  for  that ;  but  we 
too  often  drown  their  wiso,  and  steady,  and  gentle 
monitions  in  the  clamor  of  the  animal  nature  for 
stimulants,  to  whet  up  the  appetite  to  hurtful  and 
destructive  activities. 

In  all  nature  man  is  the  biggest  fooL 

It  will  refresh  us  greatly  if,  on  waking  up  of  a 
winter's  night,  we  get  out  of  bed,  throw  all  the 
clothing  to  the  foot,  and  the  next  instant  throw  it 
back ;  this  drives  all  the  confined  air  away  from 
the  bedding,  without  allowing  it  to  get  very  cold. 
In  addition,  the  hands  should  be  passed  over  the 
skin  of  the  whole  body  two  or  three  times.  This 
operation  is  accompanied  with  a  degree  of  refresh- 
ment and  a  feeling  of  purity  on  entering  the  bed 
again  which  more  than  pays  for  the  trouble,  and  it 
is  often  a  great  sleep  promoter,  enabling  a  person 
to  fall  into  a  sound  slumber  in  a  few  minutes,  after 
having  been  tossing  restlessly  for  hours. 


234  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Corns  are  caused  by  too  tight  or  too  loose  shoes, 
and  sometimes  in  the  bottoms  of  the  feet  by  the 
wooden  pegs  protruding  through  the  soles  of  the 
shoe,  by  the  neglect  of  the  maker  to  rasp  them  off 
sufficiently  smooth.     Medical  books  record  cases 
where  the  injudicious  paring  of  corns  has  resulted 
m  mortification  and  death.     The  safest,  the  best, 
the   surest   plan  is  to  never  allow  a  corn   to   be 
touched  with  anything  harder  than  the  finger-nail. 
As  soon  as  it  becomes  troublesome  enough  to  attract 
attention,  soak  the  foot  fifteen  minutes,  night  and 
morning,  in  quite  warm  water ;  then  rub  two  or 
three  drops  of  sweet  oil  into  the  top  of  the  corn 
with  the  end  of  the  finger.     Do  this  patiently  for 
a  couple  of  minutes.     Then  double  a  piece  of  soft 
buckskin,  something  larger  round  than  a  dime,  rath- 
er oblong.     Cut  a  hole  through  it  large  enough  to 
receive  the  corn,  and  thus  attach  it  to  the  toe.    This 
prevents  pressure  on  the  corn,  which  always  aggra- 
vates it,  and  in  less  than  a  week  the  corn  will  gen- 
erally fall  out,  or  can  be  easily  picked  out  with  the 
finger-nail,  and  will  not  return  for  many  weeks  or 
months  ;  and  when  it  does  return,  repeat  the  pro- 
cess.    No  safer  or  more  efficient  plan  of  removal 
has  ever  been  made  known. 

We  eat  to  live ;  and  if  we  eat  wisely  of  what  He 
has  provided  who  giveth  us  all  things  richly  to 
enjoy,  we  shall  live  well,  healthfully,  and  long. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  235 

Baldness  among  women  is  very  much  rarer  than 
among  men.  Women's  baldness  is  about  the  tem- 
ples, that  of  man  on  the  top  of  the  head.  It  may 
be  then  inferred  that  one  cause  of  baldness  is 
keeping  the  head  covered  and  heated,  thus  excess- 
ively stimulating  the  hair-glands  by  an  unnatural 
warmth,  and  prematurely  exhausting  their  power, 
and  also  by  preventing  the  evaporation  and  escape 
of  that  effete  matter,  the  continued  presence  of 
which  is  always  death,  in  whatever  part  of  the 
system  it  may  occur.  This  is  effectually  done  by 
the  large  quantities  of  grease  and  oil  which  our 
women  plaster  on  the  sides  of  the  head  and  tem- 
ples, the  hair,  dust,  and  oil  making  a  coating  over 
the  temples  almost  as  impervious  as  India-rubber, 
thus  choking  up  the  roots  or  glands  and  preventing 
the  proper  blood  circulation;  for  it  is  the  blood 
which  carries  nutriment  to  the  hair. 

It  is  a  bad  plan  to  eat  "  to  make  it  even." 

The  outer  eighth  of  an  inch  of  the  potato  con- 
tains more  nourishment  than  all  the  remainder ; 
hence  it  is  a  shameful  waste  to  peel  a  potato  with 
a  knife,  of  which  many  of  the  poor  are  unfortunately 
ignorant,  to  their  own  great  loss. 

Epidemic  cholera  is  impossible  under  any  circum- 
stances in  a  pure  air,  or  in  a  clean  sandy  plain,  or 
in  rocky  mountain  sides,  because  there  is  no  vege- 
tation there  to  decay. 


236  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Three  impossibilities :  To  over-estimate  the  greats 
ness  of  redeeming  love ;  to  over-estimate  the  joy? 
which  God  hath  prepared  for  those  who  love  him  ^ 
to  over-estimate  the  obligation  under  which  we  are 
laid  to  consecrate  our  time,  our  talents,  our  fortunes, 
and  all  that  we  have  and  are,  to  the  promotion  of 
God's  glory  and  the  happiness  of  our  fellow-men. 
With  such  a  consecration,  no  man  has  ever  avowed, 
or  ever  can  say,  on  a  dying  bed,  that  if  he  had  his 
life  to  live  over  again,  he  would  serve  his  Maker 
less  zealously,  and  would  do  less  for  his  country 
and  his  kind. 

A  PERSON  should  sleep  in  one  garment,  a  coarse 
cotton  shirt,  and  no  more,  without  a  button,  or  pin, 
or  string  about  him.  No  one,  who  pretends  to 
common  cleanliness,  should  sleep  in  a  garment 
worn  during  the  day,  nor  wear  during  the  day 
a  garment  in  which  he  has  slept.  Any  garment 
worn  should  have  six  or  eight  hours'  airing  every 
twenty-four  hours. 

The  habitual  use  of  pills,  or  drops,  or  any  kind 
of  medicine  whatever,  for  the  regulation  of  the 
bowels,  is  a  sure  means  of  ultimately  undermining 
the  health  ;  in  almost  all  cases  laying  the  founda- 
tion for  some  of  the  most  distressing  of  chronic 
maladies  ;  hence  all  the  pains  possible  should  be 
taken  to  keep  them  regulated  by  natural  agencies, 
such  as  the  coarse  foods  and  exercise. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  237 

A  ROOM,  to  be  oorafortable  as  a  sitting-room  in 
cold  weather,  should  have  a  thermometer,  five  feet 
from  the  floor,  and  near  the  door,  about  sixty-five 
degrees  ;  to  go  from  such  a  room  into  a  tempera- 
ture forty  degrees  lower,  in  a  moment,  must  be 
pernicious  always,  often  dangerous,  sometimes 
deadly.  Hence,  in  the  daytime,  when  there  is  a 
great  deal  of  running  in  and  out,  it  is  safer  to  have 
fewer  fires  burning ;  but  when  the  cold  night  sets 
in,  and  all  the  family  are  at  home,  the  luxury  of 
abundant  warmth  and  light  merits  our  deepest 
gratitude  to  Him  from  whom  all  our  comfort  flows. 

The  exercise  of  the  student  should  be  regular, 
gentle,  deliberate,  always  stopping  short  of  felt 
fatigue.  One  hour's  joyous  walk  with  a  cheerful 
friend  in  street,  or  field,  or  woodland,  will  never 
fail  to  do  a  greater  and  a  more  unmixed  good  than 
double  the  time  in  the  most  scientifically  conducted 
gymnasium  in  the  world.  There  are  individual 
cases  where  the  gymnasium  is  of  the  most  undeni- 
able benefit ;  but  the  masses  would  be  the  better 
for  having  nothing  to  do  with  them.  A  million 
times  better  recipe  than  the  gymnasium  for  sed- 
entary persons,  is  —  Eat  moderately  and  regularly 
of  plain,  nourishing  food,  well  prepared ;  spend  two 
or  three  hours  every  day  in  the  open  air,  regard- 
less of  the  weather,  in  moderate,  untiring  activ- 
ities. 


238  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

As  to  the  use  of  wines,  beers,  brandies,  cider, 
opium,  and  tobacco,  the  only  infallible  guarantee 
from  a  wasted  life,  an  early  death,  the  gutter,  or 
the  mad-house,  is  in  obeying  the  counsel  of  the 
inspired  volume  —  "  Touch  not,  taste  not." 

When  there  is  too  much  blood  in  the  veins  of  the 
head,  there  is  a  dull  pain  or  great  depression  of  spir- 
its, and  the  feet  are  always  cold.  It  is  this  excess 
of  blood  in  the  veins  of  the  head  or  brain  which  al- 
ways induces  the  despondency  which  so  frequently 
causes  suicide.  When  this  is  attempted  by  cutting 
the  throat,  the  relief  is  instantaneous,  and  the  victim 
becomes  anxious  for  the  life  he  had  just  attempted  to 
destroy.  Hence  a  good  out-door  walk,  or  a  hot  bath, 
a  sudden  fit  of  laughter,  or  a  terrible  burst  of  pas- 
sion, by  dispersing  the  blood  to  the  surface  from  the 
centres,  puts  the  blues  and  megrims  to  flight  also. 

If  an  artery  is  cut  in  a  part  of  the  body  where 
a  string  cannot  be  applied,  hard  pressure  with  the " 
thumb  at  a  spot  about  where  the  string  would  have 
been  applied  may  save  life. 

Theee  should  be  no  carpet  on  the  floor  of  a 
sleeping-room,  except  a  single  strip  by  the  side 
of  the  bed,  to  prevent  a  sudden  shock  by  the 
warm  foot  coming  in  contact  with  a  cold  floor. 
Carpets  collect  dust,  and  dirt,  and  filth,  and  damp- 
ness,  and  are  the  invention  of  laziness  to  save  labor 
and  hide  uncleanness. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  239 

The  colder  the  out-door  air  is,  the  purer  it  must 
be  and  therefore  more  healthful  and  invigorating ; 
not  only  is  it  more  healthful  in  consequence  of  its 
freedom  from  impurities,  but  also  from  the  concen- 
tration of  its  life-giving  property,  because  air  is 
condensed  by  cold  ;  it  is  packed,  as  it  were,  more 
solid ;  so  that,  even  supposing  two  cubic  inches  of 
air  equally  pure,  one  at  the  equator  the  other  at 
the  poles,  the  one  at  the  poles  has  a  much  larger 
amount  of  oxygen,  the  great  life-giver  and  purifier 
of  the  blood. 

If  stung  or  bitten  by  insect,  snake,  or  animal, 
apply  spirits  of  hartshorn  very  freely  with  a  soft 
rag,  because  it  is  one  of  the  strongest  of  alkalies, 
and  is  familiar  to  most  persons.  The  substance 
which  causes  the  so-called  poison  from  bites  or 
stings,  is,  as  far  as  is  ascertained,  generally  acid. 
Hence  the  hartshorn  antagonizes  it  in  proportion  to 
the  promptitude  with  which  it  is  applied.  If  no 
hartshorn  is  at  hand,  pour  a  cup  of  hot  water  on  a 
cup  of  cooking  soda  or  saleratus,  or  even  the  ashes 
of  wood  just  from  the  stove  or  fireplace,  because 
all  these  are  strong  alkalies,  and  hartshorn  is  only 
best  because  it  is  the  strongest.  There  is  no  con- 
clusive evidence  to  believe  that  burning  or  cutting 
out  a  bite  has  ever  done  the  slightest  good.  The 
proof  adduced  to  show  that  they  have  been  efiectual 
is  wholly  of  a  negative  character,  and,  therefore, 
not  decisive. 


240  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  first  meal,  after  a  severe  effort  of  either 
mind  or  body,  especially  if  the  effort  has  been 
protracted,  should  be  a  very  simple  one,  such  as 
light  bread,  butter,  and  a  cup  of  hot  drink ;  then 
in  four  or  five  hours  a  hearty  meal  may  be  safely 
taken,  and  is  necessary. 

The  pain  of  inflammation  gives  heat;  hence 
headache,  with  a  hot  head,  is  from  too  much  blood 
in  the  arteries,  and  there  is  throbbing;  draw  it 
away,  by  putting  the  feet  in  very  hot  water ;  this 
often  removes  pain  in  any  part  of  the  body  above 
the  ankles. 

Exercise  is  health-producing,  because  it  works 
off,  and  out  of  the  system,  its  waste,  dead,  and 
effete  matters;  these  are  all  converted  into  a 
liquid  form,  called  by  some  "  humors,"  which  have 
exit  from  the  body  through  the  "  pores "  of  the 
skin  in  the  shape  of  perspiration,  which  all  have 
seen,  and  which  all  know  is  the  result  of  exercise, 
when  the  body  is  in  a  state  of  health.  Thus  it  is, 
that  persons  who  do  not  perspire,  who  have  a  dry 
skin,  are  always  either  feverish  or  chilly,  and  are 
never  well,  and  never  can  be  as  long  as  that  con- 
dition exists.  So  exercise,  by  working  out  of  the 
system  its  waste,  decayed,  and  useless  matters, 
keeps  the  human  machine  "  free ; "  otherwise  it 
would  soon  clog  up,  and  the  wheels  of  life  would 
stop  forever  I 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  241 

Exercise  improves  the  health,  because  every 
step  a  man  takes  tends  to  impart  motion  to  the 
bowels ;  a  proper  amount  of  exercise  keeps  them 
acting  once  in  every  twenty-four  hours ;  if  they 
have  not  motion  enough,  there  is  constipation, 
which  brings  on  very  many  fatal  diseases ;  hence 
exercise,  especially  that  of  walking,  wards  off  in- 
numerable diseases,  when  it  is  kept  up  to  an 
extent  equal  to  inducing  one  action  of  the  bowels 
daily. 

Find  a  young  man  who  has  no  money,  or  who, 
having  money,  has  no  desire  to  get  rid  of  it  un- 
profitably,  and  you  find  a  soil  upon  which  roguery 
cannot  fasten. 

The  human  body  is  made  in  such  a  manner  that 
a  single  step  cannot  be  taken  without  tending  to 
move  the  intestines ;  thus  it  is,  in  the  main,  that 
those  who  move  about  on  their  feet  a  great  deal 
have  the  least  sickness,  and,  on  the  other  hand, 
those  who  sit  a  great  deal,  and  hence  move  about 
but  little,  never  have  sound  health ;  it  is  an  impos- 
sibility —  it  is  a  rule  to  which  I  have  never  known 
an  exception. 

Sickness  is  often  aggravated,  and  life  itself  is 
sometimes  lost,  from  giving  to  a  second  man  what 
cured  the  first,  because  the  circumstances  were 
not  the  same. 

16 


242  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

The  safest  and  most  comfortable  application  in 
nature  for  the  relief  of  all  pain,  especially  tbat 
arising  from  inflammation,  is  a  woollen  cloth,  kept 
very  warm,  even  hot,  by  the  steady  addition  of  hot 
water,  or  a  stream  of  warm  water,  where  the  pain- 
ful part  admits  it.  When  pain  is  severe,  sharp,  or 
thrilling,  there  is  inflammation,  and  arises  from 
there  being  too  much  blood  in  the  arteries;  if  dull 
and  heavy,  it  is  caused  from  there  being  too  much 
blood  in  the  veins. 

When  it  is  considered  that  pure  air  is  essential 
to  the  purification  of  the  blood,  and  that  the  food 
we  eat  never  becomes  nutriment  until  it  meets 
with  the  air  in  the  lungs,  and  when  it  is  furthermore 
remembered  that  a  full  third  of  our  entire  exist- 
ence is  passed  in  our  sleeping  apartments,  it  must 
be  clear  to  the  commonest  understanding  that  the 
difierence  between  breathing  a  pure  and  impure 
air  while  we  are  asleep  is  literally  incalculable  as 
to  the  effects  upon  our  happiness  and  well-being. 

It  is  too  much  the  custom  to  measure  one's 
health  by  the  avidity  of  his  appetite  and  his  in- 
crease in  flesh,  as  if  he  were  a  pig ;  forgetting  that 
the  voracious  appetite  and  fat  are  always  indicative 
of  a  diseased  body.  A  uniform,  moderate  appetite 
is  the  attendant  of  good  health.  A  racer's  ribs 
must  be  seen  before  he  is  fit  for  the  track,  because 
then  he  is  more  capable  of  endurance. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  24S 

A  HOUSEHOLD  is  better  regulated  by  an  affection- 
ate pliancy,  than  by  an  inflexible  rigidity ;  yielding 
in  non-essentials,  but  firm  as  a  rock  in  all  questions 
of  right  and  wrong. 

It  is  not  possible  to  supply  a  pure  warmth  by 
any  furnace  ever  invented,  unless  it  simply  heats 
water  or  air,  out  of  which  is  given  the  caloric  ne- 
cessary to  make  a  dwelling  comfortable.  That  the 
heat  which  comes  from  any  furnace  through  an 
ordinary  register,  although  the  coals  are  red  hot, 
is  a  sickening  stench,  can  be  demonstrated  any 
moment  in  a  winter's  day :  it  is  sending  into  a 
room  an  incessant  stream  of  air,  almost  wholly  di- 
vested of  its  oxygen,  which  is  the  element  for 
tvhich  alone  air  is  breathed  at  all.  Nor  is  this  all : 
the  oxygen  has  not  only  been  abstracted,  but  sul- 
phuretted hydrogen  and  carbonated  hydrogen, 
which  are  among  the  most  noisome  smells  in  na- 
ture —  that  of  rotten  eggs  — replace  the  oxygen ; 
and  that  such  an  atmosphere,  steaming  into  our 
parlors,  and  dining-rooms,  and  chambers,  cannot 
be  otherwise  than  most  pernicious  to  health,  only 
but  an  idiot  can  deny. 

The  human  mind  everywhere  takes  in  truth 
with  pleasure ;  it  feeds  on  what  is  new,  and  if  the 
new  is  beautiful  and  true,  it  is  a  feast  of  fat  things, 
nourishing  the  immortal  part,  and  giving  life  to  the 
body  itself. 


244  DB.  hall's  MAXIH3. 

The  heart,  the  moral  nature,  must  be  rested  by 
a  diversion  of  its  activities  to  subjects  belonging 
more  directly  to  its  higher  nature. 

The  most  common  way  to  a  premature  grave, 
and  one  of  the  shortest  cuts  to  that  destination,  is 
down  a  man's  throat.  There  is  a  multitude,  which 
no  man  can  number,  daily  eating  immoderately, 
thus  sapping  the  constitution,  and  laying  the 
foundation  for  innumerable  ills  and  a  too  early 
grave.  The  wise  man  does  it,  and  the  fool ;  the 
virtuous  and  the  abandoned;  the  kind  and  the 
cross,  of  all  climes,  are  among  the  errorists.  But 
there  are  some  who  are  wise  as  to  this  point,  and 
the  number  is  increasing;  the  number  of  those 
who  are  men  and  women  of  force ;  who  think  for 
themselves,  observe  for  themselves;  who  have 
vigor  of  intellect  enough  to  compare  causes  and  ef- 
fects, antecedents  and  consequents.  There  is  con- 
stantly coming  to  us  the  knowledge  of  mothers, 
who,  by  our  teachings,  have  been  led  to  regulate 
their  households  rationally,  and  are  reaping  a  rich 
reward,  in  the  shape  of  health  for  themselves,  and 
what  is  dearer  still,  increasing  health  for  their 
children. 

The  body  must  be  rested  by  a  cessation  from 
work  or  muscular  effort. 

The  brain  must  be  rested  by  cessation  of  ordi- 
nary mental  application. 


DB.  HALLOS  HAZDIS.  245 

If  it  be  true  that  "  economy  leads  to  wealth,"  it 
must  be  equally  true  that  extravagance  leads  to 
poverty ;  and  almost  the  greatest  extravagance,  to 
which  business  men  are  now  tempted,  is  that  of  os- 
tentatious display.  Dr.  Franklin  said,  that  "  the 
road  to  wealth  is  as  plain  as  the  road  to  market." 
If  Poor  Richard  were  to  come  again  to  point  it  out, 
he  would  likely  advise  that  it  be  not  carpeted  with 
Brussels,  except  at  its  extreme  farther  end. 

Mothers  are  often  much  afraid  that  their 
daughters  will  hurt  themselves  by  a  little  work,  if 
they  complain  of  not  feeling  very  well ;  and  yet  if 
such  daughters  were  to  sit  down  to  dinner,  and 
shovel  in  enough  provender  for  an  elephant  or  a 
ploughman,  it  would  be  considered  a  good  omen  and 
the  harbinger  of  convalescence.  A  reverse  pro- 
cedure would  restore  multitudes  of  aiUng  persona 
to  permanent  good  health,  namely,  to  eat  very 
little  for  a  few  days ;  eat  nothing  but  coarse  bread 
and  ripe  fruits,  and  work  about  the  house  indus- 
triously ;  or,  what  is  better,  exercise  in  the  open 
air  for  the  greater  part  of  each  day  on  horseback, 
in  the  garden,  or  walking  through  the  woodlands, 
or  over  the  hills,  for  hours  at  a  time.  Objectless 
walks  and  lazy  lolling  in  carriages  are  very  little 
better  than  nothing. 

It  is  greatly  safer  for  children,  for  invalids,  and 
old  persons  to  have  too  much  clothing  than  too  little. 


246  DE.  hall's  maxims. 

Vigorous,  manly  health  makes  one  feel  as  if  he 
Qould  sweep  away  every  obstacle  before  hira  with 
a  wave  of  the  hand ;  that  health  should  be  striven 
for,  in  an  active  life,  which  keeps  the  body  "on 
the  go ; "  which  taxes  the  mental  energies  to  an 
extent  that  compels  them  to  be  busy,  not  over- 
crowded, but  always  a  little  pushed ;  an  additional 
element  of  success  would  be  to  secure  such  a  per- 
son an  occupation  involving  responsibilities  —  in- 
volving the  direction  of  others ;  a  situation  which 
implies  confidence  reposed  by  persons  of  character 
and  position:  in  this  way  work,  business,  becomes 
a  pleasure,  and  mind  and  body,  being  fully  occu- 
pied, the  capabilities  of  both  will  be  invited  out, 
will  be  cherished,  strengthened,  and  grow  to 
fair  proportions  from  very  use.  Wake  up,  then,  ye 
hesitating,  halting  ones,  and  make  a  manful  fight 
against  whatever  of  obstacles  may  stand  in  the 
way  of  success  in  life ;  stand  up  to  them  face  to 
face :  sometimes  they  will  melt  away  as  snow  be- 
fore the  silent  warming  sun,  at  others  they  may  be 
too  numerous  to  mention ;  but  when  they  seem  to 
be,  take  courage,  and  they  will  oftentimes  vanish 
like  the  morning  dew  in  the  practice  of  "  Gus- 
sie's  "  plan,  "  When  you've  got  a  big  thing  to  do, 
go  ahead." 

A  TEACHER  must  have  more  than  knowledge,  — he 
must  have  a  high  principle,  a  conscience,  a  heart. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  247 

All  know  that  the  less  we  exercise  the  less 
health  we  have,  and  the  more  certain  are  we  to 
die  before  our  time.  But  comparatively  few  per- 
sons are  able  to  explain,  how  does  exercise 
promote  health.  Both  beast  and  bird,  in  a  state 
of  nature,  are  exempt  from  disease,  except  in 
rare  cases :  it  is  because  the  unappeasable  instinct 
of  searching  for  their  necessary  food  impels  them 
to  ceaseless  activities.  Children,  when  left  to 
themselves,  eat  a  great  deal,  and  have  excellent 
health,  because  they  will  be  doing  something  all 
the  time,  until  they  become  so  tired  they  fall 
asleep;  and  as  soon  as  they  wake,  they  begin  right 
away  to  run  about  again ;  thus  their  whole  exist- 
ence is  spent  in  alternate  eating,  and  sleeping, 
and  exercise,  which  is  interesting  and  pleasurable. 
The  health  of  childhood  would  be  enjoyed  by 
those  of  maturer  years,  if,  like  children,  they 
would  eat  only  when  they  are  hungry ;  stop  when 
they  have  done ;  take  rest  in  sleep  as  soon  as  they 
are  tired ;  and  when  not  eating  or  resting,  would 
spend  the  time  diligently  in  such  muscular  activ- 
ities as  would  be  interesting,  agreeable,  and  profit- 
able. Exercise  without  mental  elasticity,  without 
an  enlivenment  of  the  feelings  and  the  mind,  is  of 
comparatively  little  value. 

Whoevee  drinks  no  liquids  at  meals,  will  add 
years  of  pleasurable  existence  to  his  life. 


248  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Walking  with  the  head  downward,  or  with  a 
staff  or  cane,  promotes  a  stooping  position,  and 
brings  on  an  appearance  of  old  age  prematurely, 
not  only  by  the  effects  upon  the  structure  of  the 
spinal  column,  but  by  throwing  the  weight  of  the 
body  on  the  chest,  thus  compressing  the  lungs, 
diminishing  their  capability  of  receiving  an  ade- 
quate quantity  of  pure  air,  thus  gradually  purify- 
ing the  blood  less  and  less  perfectly,  until  the 
whole  mass  of  it  becomes  imperfect,  impure,  and 
diseased;  then  slight  causes  carry,  a  man  to  the 
grave.  An  absolute  preventive  of  all  this  is  an 
habitual,  persistent  attention  to  the  following 
rules :  Walk  with  the  toes  thrown  outward.  Walk 
with  the  chin  slightly  above  a  horizontal  line,  as 
if  looking  at  the  top  of  a  man's  hat  in  front  of  you, 
or  at  the  eaves  or  roof  of  a  house.  Walk  a  good 
deal  with  your  hands  behind  you.  Sit  with  the 
lower  portion  of  the  spine  pressed  against  the 
chair-back. 

No  man  has  a  right  to  indulge  in  any  extrava- 
gance which  will  injure  his  success  in  business, 
so  long  as  such  an  injury  to  himself  will  be  an  in- 
jury to  any  one  else. 

No  system  of  hygiene  can  be  complete  which 
does  not  include  that  temperance,  industry,  and 
personal  purity  which  the  sacred  writings  often 
and  strongly  insist  upon. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  249 

Every  day  we  meet  with  persons  who  in  their 
famih'es  are  cross,  ill-natured,  dissatisfied,  finding 
fault  with  everybody  and  everything,  whose  first 
greeting  in  the  breakfast-room  is  a  complaint, 
whose  conversation  seldom  fails  to  end  in  an  enu- 
meration of  difficulties  and  hardships,  whose  last 
word  at  night  is  an  angry  growl.  If  you  can  get  such 
persons  to  reason  on  the  subject,  they  will  acknowl- 
edge that  there  is  some  ''  want "  at  the  bottom  of  it ; 
the  want  of  a  better  house,  a  finer  dress,  a  more  hand- 
some equipage,  a  more  dutiful  child,  a  more  provident 
husband,  a  more  cleanly,  or  systematic,  or  domestic 
wife.  At  one  time  it  is  a  "  wretched  cook  "  who 
stands  between  them  and  the  sun ;  or  a  lazy  house- 
servant,  or  an  impertinent  carriage-driver.  The 
want  of  more  money  than  Providence  has  thought 
proper  to  bestow  will  be  found  to  embrace  all 
these  things.  Such  persons  may  feel  assured  that 
people  who  cannot  make  themselves  really  comfort- 
able  in  any  one  set  of  ordinary  circumstances  would 
not  be  so  under  any  other. 

If  you  are  caught  in  a  drenching  rain,  or  fall  in 
the  water,  by  all  means  keep  in  motion  sufficiently 
vigorous  to  prevent  the  slightest  chilly  sensation 
until  you  reach  the  house ;  then  change  your  cloth- 
ing  with  great  rapidity  before  a  blazing  fire,  and 
drink  instantly  a  pint  of  some  hot  liquid.  To  allow 
the  clothing  to  dry  upon  you,  unless  by  keeping  up 
vigorous  exercise  until  thoroughly  dried,  is  suicidal. 


250  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Consumption  always  comes  on  in  one  of  two 
ways  —  the  lungs  not  having  fresh  air  enough 
supplied  to  them,  or  by  not  being  able  to  take  in 
enough,  which  latter  condition  is  brought  on  in  the 
first  place  by  a  sufficient  amount  of  pure  air  not 
being  supplied  for  weeks  and  months  in  succession. 
"Whenever  a  consumptive  patient  is  brought  to  a 
physician,  one  symptom  is  always  present,  is  never 
by  any  possibility  absent  in  any  one  case  ;  pain 
may  be  absent,  cough  may  be  absent,  night  sweats 
may  be  absent,  and  swollen  feet  and  ankles  also ; 
but  a  want  of  breath  is  always  present. 

Tea  and  coffee  used  at  each  regular  meal,  as  the 
exclusive  drink  of  all  classes  and  all  ages,  will  add 
to  the  health,  life,  happiness,  and  well-being  of  any 
nation.  All  nations,  of  all  ages,  have  solid  or  liquid 
excitants,  or  stimulants,  made  to  hand,  or  have  dis- 
covered or  invented  them,  or  found  out  the  mode 
of  use  adapted  to  the  results.  It  would  seem  from 
this  that  a  beneficent  Providence  intended  their 
employment  for  the  comfort  of  the  creatures  of  his 
power  —  written  revelation  giving  the  explicit  con- 
ditions of  their  use. 

A  dollar's  worth  of  lime,  a  shilling  ribbon,  or  a 
few  pennies'  worth  of  paint  may  be  so  used  as  to 
give  an  impression  of  life,  of  cheerfulness,  and  of 
thrift  about  a  home  altogether  beyond  the  value  of 
the  means  employed  for  the  purpose. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  251 

If  I  were  attacked  with  undisputed  cholera,  I 
would  do  four  things :  Lie  down ;  eat  ice,  if  thirsty ; 
bind  a  piece  of  woollen  flannel  tightly  around  the 
abdomen ;  take  calomel.  This  fourth  item  requires 
a  more  extended  mention.  I  would  take  an  amount 
supposed  to  be  sufficient.  If  it  did  not  arrest  the 
passages  within  two  hours,  I  would  double  that 
amount,  and  continue  to  douMe  each  last  dose  at  the 
end  of  each  second  hour,  until  the  disease  was 
arrested. 

As  pork  has  been  the  main  stay  of  the  nation  for 
hundreds  of  years,  and  statistics  tell  us  the  average 
duration  of  human  life  is  steadily  increasing,  we 
would  advise  the  people  to  eat  as  much  "  ham  and 
eggs "  as  heretofore,  not  to  discard  "  pork  and 
beans,"  to  revel  in  sausages  in  their  proper  season, 
to  supply  themselves  with  a  good  store  of  hogs' 
lard  every  autumn  for  the  year's  use,  and  dismiss 
all  apprehension  of  being  eaten  up  alive  by  pig- 
worms  ;  but  always  cook  these  articles  most  thor- 
oughly. 

There  should  be  no  standing  fluid  of  any  de- 
scription, nor  a  particle  of  food,  or  vegetation, 
or  any  decayable  substance  allowed  to  remain 
in  a  bed-room  for  a  moment ;  nor  should  any  light 
be  kept  burning,  except  from  necessity,  as  all 
these  things  corrupt  the  air  which  is  breathed 
while  sleeping. 


252  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

True  politeness  is  benevolence  personified  ;  it  ia 
the  practice  of  kindness.  There  is  virtue  even  in 
the  form  of  politeness ;  it  may  be  merely  mechan- 
ical, still,  like  an  air  cushion,  although  there  is  noth- 
ing in  it,  it  is  very  comfortable  in  use.  Why  not 
cultivate  a  pleasant  mode  of  recognition  for  every 
one  we  meet  on  the  street,  however  slight  the  ac- 
quaintance ?  it  would  many  a  time  lighten  the  load 
of  some  sorrowing  heart,  or  cause  some  new  resolve 
to  "  try  again  "  when  on  tlie  very  verge  of  uttei 
hopelessness,  by  the  inspiration  of  the  feeling 
"  there's  somebody,  at  least,  cares  a  little  for  me." 
It  elevates  the  lowly  to  have  their  superiors  greet 
them  courteously ;  it  unwittingly  to  themselves 
begets  a  resolution  to  act  more  worthy  of  such 
recognition ;  to  earn  it  by  a  better  behavior,  a 
more  tidy  dress,  a  more  dignified  deportment. 

At  home,  or  at  church,  are  the  places  for  spend- 
ing the  hours  of  the  sacred  day ;  especially  is  it 
the  way  of  safety  for  young  people  —  safety  from 
the  grog-shop,  the  engine-house,  and  the  chambers 
of  her  whose  ways  go  down  to  death:  and  how 
much  of  bodily  disease  are  traceable  directly  to 
these  three  places,  to  say  nothing  of  moral  corrup- 
tions, any  city  physician,  of  even  moderate  prac- 
tice, has  daily  cognizance. 

Live  within  your  income,  even  if  you  have  to 
dwell  in  a  shanty  and  live  on  a  crust  of  bread. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  253 

If  infants  and  young  children  are  inclined  to  be 
wakeful  during  the  night,  or  very  early  in  the 
morning,  put  them  to  bed  later ;  and  besides,  ar- 
range that  their  day  nap  shall  be  in  the  forenoon. 

Making  money  is  about  one  of  the  best  promoters 
of  health  we  at  present  think  of;  it  enlivens  the 
mind,  which  induces  greater  bodily  activities,  and 
these,  as  all  know,  are  better  than  any  medicine 
for  the  securement  of  health  and  the  prevention 
of  disease.  The  same  amount  of  muscular  efibrt, 
expended  in  an  encouragingly  remunerative  em- 
ployment, will  do  many  times  more  good  towards 
removing  and  preventing  sickness  than  if  it  was 
merely  and  solely  intended  for  that  end.  But  it 
takes  more  of  a  man,  requires  more  mind,  more 
moral  force,  to  save  money  than  to  make  it ;  the 
idea  being  expressed,  although  in  not  very  elegant 
phrase,  "Any  fool  or  knave  can  make  money,  but 
it  requires  a  wise  man  to  keep  it," — to  save  it.  In 
fact.  Poor  Richard  used  to  say,  "A  penny  saved  is 
twopence  gained."  A  man  is  a  man  in  proportion 
to  the  amount  of  self-denial  he  can  exercise  over 
himself — in  proportion  to  his  moral  courage  to 
deny  himself  as  to  his  appetites  and  gratifications. 
Spendthrifts  have  none  of  these  high  qualities. 

The  most  all-pervading  cause  of  the  increased 
sickness  and  death  in  cities  in  warm  weather  is 
the  breathing  of  an  impure,  a  vitiated  atmosphere. 


254  DB.  hall's  MAxms. 

Millions  of  pounds  of  tobacco  are  raised  in  the 
United  States  every  year.  More  than  half  of  this 
is  produced  in  the  Northern  States ;  it  ruins  the 
health  of  many,  and  is  the  first  step  towards  drunk- 
enness, in  millions  of  cases;  it  not  only  makes 
water  insipid,  but  creates  a  desire  for  something 
to  drink,  which  only  spirits  can  satisfy. 

Yankee  men,  nor  Yankee  principles,  nor  Yankee 
thrift  will  ever  die  out  while  this  planet  is  inhab- 
ited ;  and  if  it  is  ever  depopulated  by  a  conflagra- 
tion, the  last  survivor  of  a  smouldering  world  will 
be  Jonathan,  at  the  death,  singly  and  alone,  reso- 
lutely trying  to  put  out  the  fire  ;  if  by  famine,  the 
last  loaf  of  bread  will  be  owned  by  a  Yankee. 

No  standing  water  on  an  earthen  bottom  ought 
to  be  allowed  within  a  mile  of  any  residence  in 
cholera  times ;  and  in  communities,  every  street 
gutter  should  be  kept  as  clean  as  a  broom  can 
make  it,  or  as  dry  as  a  powder-horn.  Street  filth, 
collar  filth,  rear-yard  filth,  kitchen  filth,  all  involv- 
ing the  decay  of  vegetable  substances,  these  are 
they  which  make  cholera  victims  in  cities. 

The  difiorence  between  cleanliness  and  the  want 
of  it,  about  a  house,  is  demonstrated  in  some  of  tlie 
model  lodging-houses  in  London,  standing  in  the 
midst  of  unhealthful  surroundings;  for  in  these 
bouses  the  number  of  deaths  is  just  half  as  many 
as  in  the  immediate  neighborhood. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  255 

A  MOUNTAIN  weight  is  pretty  heavy  physically, 
and  the  expression  is  used  to  indicate  the  op- 
pressed condition  of  the  mind.  Physicians  are 
repeatedly  consulted  by  persons  who  think  they 
are  "  in  a  very  bad  way,"  when  there  is  actually 
no  physical  derangement,  but  the  trouble  has 
arisen  from  a  misapplication  or  misapprehension 
of  the  meaning  of  facts  and  occurrences. 

True  religion  not  only  purifies  the  sentiments 
and  the  heart,  but  washes  a  man's  clothes,  neatly 
patches  every  worn-out  garment,  keeps  his  house 
or  farm  in  good  repair,  and  inaugurates  system, 
promptitude,  exactness,  courtesy,  and  a  spirit  of 
generous  forbearance  and  kindly  accommodation  in 
every  household.  It  is  not  intended  to  say  there 
is  no  piety  where  these  things  are  not  found,  but 
they  most  certainly  do  abound  in  proportion  as 
Christianity  has  her  "  perfect  work." 

The  toiling,  laboring  poor  are  despised  and  con- 
temned. Riches  are  coveted,  sought  for,  and  wor- 
shipped by  the  million.  Honesty  and  truth,  merit 
and  talent,  are  sold  for  a  "  mess  of  pottage."  Too 
often  the  most  open  dishonesty  is  forgiven  and  for- 
gotten, because  wealth  blinds  the  eyes  and  obliter- 
ates the  memory  of  the  public.  ''An  honest  man  is 
the  noblest  work  of  God,"  was  once  true ;  but 
now,  "  Get  all  you  can,  and  keep  what  you  get,"  is 
the  great  principle  of  the  age. 


256  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Life  was  never  meant  to  be  a  mere  pleasure, 
save  to  the  brute.  To  higher  natures  it  has  always 
been,  and  always  will  be,  a  school,  a  discipline,  a 
journey,  a  march,  a  battle,  a  victory.  The  law  is 
absolute  and  wholesome,  growing  out  of  the  very 
divinity  of  man's  source.  No  amount  of  fortune, 
accordingly,  can  exempt  a  man  from  its  operation. 
It  leaves  no  one  where  it  finds  him.  If  it  does 
not  elevate  him  above  the  lambent  stars,  it  makes 
him  grovel  in  the  dust  of  the  earth.  The  alterna- 
tive is  infallible ;  and,  therefore,  we  say  to  our 
thoughtless  rich  men,  that  they  had  better,  on 
every  account,  study  the  methods  of  a  wise  deple- 
tion, and  educate  their  children  to  industry,  econ- 
omy, and  usefulness. 

The  odor  of  dead  rats  induces  disease  in  a  whole 
household,  while  most  rat  poisons  are  fatal  to  the 
family.  If  the  bi-sulphide  of  carbon  is  poured  into 
their  holes  it  will  drive  them  from  the  premises  in 
twenty-four  hours ;  the  next  best  remedy  is  a  rat- 
trap  baited  with  toasted  cheese. 

If  you  find  yourself  inclined  to  wake  up  at  a 
regular  hour  in  the  night,  and  remain  awake,  you 
can  break  up  the  habit  in  three  days  by  getting 
up  as  soon  as  you  wake,  and  not  going  to  sleep 
again  until  your  usual  hour  for  retiring  ;  or  retire 
two  hours  later  and  rise  two  hours  earlier  for  throe 
days  in  succession,  not  sleeping  a  moment  in  the 
daytime. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  257 

INABILITY  to  sleep  is  the  first  step  towards  mad- 
ness, while  sound  and  sufficient  sleep  imparts  a 
vigor  to  the  mind,  and  a  feeling  of  wellness  and 
activity  to  the  body,  which  are  beyond  price. 

Day  laborers  are  most  liable  to  sun-stroke,  espe- 
cially in  proportion  as  they  use  stimulating  drinks. 
It  is  doubtful  if  any  strictly  temperate  person  ever 
becomes  a  victim  to  this  instantaneous  life-de- 
stroyer, but  excessive  exposure  to  the  direct  rays 
of  a  summer's  sun  may  occasion  sun-stroke  in  any 
individual,  in  the  proportion  as  he  is  of  a  sedentary 
occupation  or  of  delicate  health.  Such  persons,  if 
compelled  to  be  out  of  doors  under  a  hot  summer's 
sun,  should  wear  a  soft,  loose  hat,  with  some  light 
loose  cloth  in  the  crown;  have  the  neck  and 
throat  bare  and  unconfined ;  should  eat  but  little 
meat,  and  live  mostly  on  coarse  bread  and  butter, 
and  berries,  ripe,  raw,  and  perfect,  without  sugar 
or  milk,  keep  regular  hours,  and  have  abundant 
sleep.  Laborers  should  wash  the  whole  scalp  in 
cold  water  several  times  a  day,  and  keep  the  sur- 
face of  the  body  clean,  by  rubbing  it  with  a  damp 
towel  every  night  before  going  to  bed.  Let  the 
friction  be  sufficiently  vigorous  to  cause  an  extra 
redness  of  the  skin.  It  is  being  between  two  fires 
that  makes  sun-stroke  common  in  cities  and  uncom- 
mon on  small  islands  or  at  sea,  because  the  brick 
and  stone  pavements  give  back  almost  as  great  a 
heat  as  comes  from  the  sun. 
17 


258  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Multitudes  are  there  whose  existence  is  one 
continued  struggle  for  the  means  which  will  en- 
able them  to  retire  to  the  country  and  live  at 
their  ease  for  the  remainder  of  life.  How  few  of 
all  that  company  succeed,  need  not  be  expressed 
here ;  and  of  that  small  number,  more  tlian  half 
have  their  hearts  so  eaten  out  by  the  conflicts  of 
life  that  no  lusciousness  is  left,  no  zest  for  the 
pure  and  quiet  joys  of  the  country  —  nothing  left 
but  the  dry,  hard  greed  of  gold,  and  bitter  reflec- 
tions as  to  the  deep  depravity  of  their  feUow-men ; 
no  sunshine  lights  up  their  countenances ;  no 
kindly  words  escape  their  lips ;  no  generous  acts 
mark  out  their  daily  lives ;  all  humanity  has  died 
out  in  them ;  they  have  only  one  joy,  and  it  a  sem- 
blance —  the  joy  of  clutching  and  hoarding  money. 
Against  a  life  so  terrible  as  this,  there  is  a  protec- 
tion —  there  is  a  happy  deliverance ;  it  consists  in 
wisely  enjoying  what  we  may  of  the  present,  in- 
stead of  setting  apart  a  future  for  it  which  we  may 
never  see ;  all  along  aiming,  by  word,  and  deed, 
and  thought,  and  prayer,  to  secure  a  resting-place 
in  heaven. 

Many  a  man  has  the  courage  to  march  to  the 
cannon's  mouth,  and  yet  fails  to  resist  over-indul- 
gence in  eating.  He  who  has  an  intellect  peerless 
among  the  generation  in  which  he  lives,  becomes 
an  imbecile  at  the  dinner-table. 


DB.   hall's  MAXIU3.  259 

While  we  should  cultivate  serenity  of  heart  and 
mind,  for  the  benign  influences  which  it  cannot  fail 
to  have  on  ourselves  and  on  those  with  whom  we 
associate,  we  should  be  deterred  from  the  neglect 
of  cherishing  a  quality  so  divine  by  keeping  in 
mind  the  evils  which  hourly  befall  those  who  give 
a  loose  rein  to  the  natural  man.  The  great  and 
good  Washington  is  known  to  have  been  an  ex- 
tremely irritable  man  in  early  life,  but  he  schooled 
himself  to  become  as  calm  as  a  summer's  sea  in  his 
later  years. 

A  PLUM-SIZED  lump  of  alum  attached  to  a  string 
and  swung  around  a  few  times  slowly  through  a 
pitcher  of  water  will  cause  the  sediment  to  fall  to 
the  bottom  in  a  few  minutes.  The  neutral  sulphate 
of  alumine  wiil  make  lime-water  perfectly  pure, 
destroying  at  the  same  time  all  organic  compounds. 
Almost  all  water  has  lime  in  it. 

A  SINGLE  hour's  breathing  of  an  atmosphere 
loaded  with  miasmatic  exhalations  may  produce 
deadly  effects. 

Many  a  hard-working,  frugal,  self-denying  man 
has  spent  more  time,  and  had  more  trouble,  in  col- 
lecting a  debt,  than  were  involved  in  earning  the 
original  amount. 

Americans  brag  a  great  deal  about  their  bravery. 
Brave  people  never  brag.  True  courage  is  always 
quiet. 


260  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

If  a  man  weighs  himself  at  bedtime,  and  again 
on  jBrst  rising,  he  will  find  an  actual  loss  in  weight 
of  half  a  pound,  which  amount  has  gone  off  from 
his  body,  and  has  been  distributed  through  the  bed- 
clothing  and  the  air  of  the  room.  If  a  single  ounce 
of  old  woollen  rags  is  burned  in  a  chamber,  the 
atmosphere  becomes  impregnated  with  the  smoke, 
and  is  scarcely  endurable,  yet  sixteen  times  that 
much  of  foreign  material,  of  dead  and  refuse  parts 
of  the  body,  are  mixed  with  the  air  of  a  chamber, 
and,  although  not  producing  so  ill  an  odor,  make 
it  sixteen  times  more  injurious,  because  the  air  is 
just  sixteen  times  more  impure,  has  sixteen  times 
less  of  the  appropriate  nourishment  of  the  system, 
showing  again  the  great  importance  of  sleeping  in 
well-ventilated  chambers.  If  two  persons  sleep  in 
the  same  room,  these  pernicious  deteriorations  of 
the  atmosphere  are  doubled. 

The  coarser  the  food,  the  more  freely  will  the 
bowels  act,  such  as  corn  (Indian)  bread,  eaten  hot ; 
hominy;  wheaten  grits;  bread  made  from  coarse 
flour,  or  "  shorts ;  "  Graham  bread  ;  boiled  turnips, 
or  "stirabout."  If  the  bowels  act  oftener  than 
twice  a  day,  live  for  a  short  time  on  boiled  rice, 
farina,  starch,  or  boiled  milk. 

Let  us  practise  ourselves,  and  teach  it  to  our 
children,  to  look  at  all  things,  to  think  of  all  things, 
to  speak  of  all  things  serenely. 


DB.  hall's  uAxms.  261 

Let  that  father  who  wishes  to  be  assured  that 
his  son  shall  not  languish  in  a  penitentiary,  or  per- 
ish on  a  gallows,  give  that  son  a  trade.  Let  the 
mother  who  desires  to  make  it  certain  that  the 
daughter  she  so  much  loves  shall  not  pine  away  in 
some  cheerless  hospital,  ay,  some  insane  asylum, 
teach  that  daughter  the  perfect  use  of  her  needle, 
or,  better,  the  skilful  handling  of  a  sewing-machine ; 
and  more,  how  to  keep  a  tidy  house ;  how  to  pre 
pare  a  comfortable  meal;  how  to  spread  a  well- 
appointed  table  —  to  do  all  these  things  with 
thoroughness.  Such  a  young  woman  can  never 
come  to  want ;  can  never  fail  to  find  a  well-paying 
place  in  this  country. 

Americans  are  a  hasty  race ;  their  habitual  hur 
ries  and  anxieties  eat  out  the  very  essence  of  life 
before  half  that  life  is  done,  and  all  bloodless, 
fidgety,  skinny,  and  thin,  we  are  but  "  a  vapor  that 
appeareth  for  a  little  time,  and  then  vanisheth 
away." 

That  man  is  a  fool,  who,  in  a  grave  case  of  sick- 
ness  as  to  himself,  his  family,  or  those  under  his 
control,  fails  to  call  in  promptly  a  regularly  edu- 
cated physician,  or  one  who,  if  not  regularly  edu- 
cated, has  had  long  years  of  practical  and  exten- 
sive experience;  and  when  death  results  from 
such  omission,  such  a  one  is  a  constructive  mur. 
derer. 


262  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Man  is  like  a  pig.  When  he  is  hungry,  he  gets 
quarrelsome,  ill-natured,  snappish ;  but  in  one  re- 
spect he  is  unlike  a  pig ;  that  animal,  with  all  its 
love  of  filth,  ceases  to  eat  when  it  is  no  longer  hun- 
gry. Reader,  did  you  never  eat  to  make  it  even  ? 
—  take  some  more  bread  because  you  had  a  little 
butter  on  your  plate  ?  or  take  a  little  more  sauce 
or  gravy  because  a  bit  of  bread  was  left,  and  you 
did  not  want  to  leave  it  ?  That  was  waste ;  it  was 
more  than  waste,  because  it  not  only  did  you  no 
good,  but  a  positive  injury. 

The  vanity  of  parents  is  fed  by  the  "  smartness  " 
of  their  children ;  but  early  ripe,  early  ruined,  may 
be  said  of  all  precocities.  If  not  actually  ruined, 
there  is  almost  in  all  cases  a  sudden  "  giving  out " 
of  the  mental  powers,  and  the  prodigy  of  yesterday 
is  the  mediocre  of  to-day,  and  the  non  compos  merdia 
of  to-morrow. 

Wash  the  eyes  abundantly  every  morning.  If 
cold  water  is  used,  let  it  be  flapped  against  the 
closed  eye  with  the  fingers  of  the  hand,  not  strik- 
ing hard  against  the  balls  of  the  eyes.  But  it 
would  seem  a  better  plan  to  open  the  eyes  in 
pure  warm  water,  because  warm  water  is  more 
penetrating  than  cold ;  it  dissolves  much  more 
readily  and  rapidly  any  hardened  matter  that 
may  be  about  the  lids,  and  is  more  soothing  and 
more  natural. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  263 

That  there  are  material  emanations,  distinguish- 
able by  the  sense  of  smell,  constantly  passing  from 
everything  that  breathes,  is  not  denied.  That 
every  man  has  a  different  "scent"  is  proven  by 
the  fact  that  a  dog  will  follow  his  master  through 
a  crowded  street  or  road,  although  not  in  sight, 
keeping  his  nose  to  the  ground  until  he  can  be 
seen,  when  he  bounds  away  with  his  head  up- 
wards, because  the  eye  then  assists  him.  An 
emanation  comes  from  the  negro  which  it  requires 
no  nice  olfactory  to  discover.  There  are  some 
white  persons  who  will  scent  a  room  in  five  min- 
utes after  their  entrance,  to  the  extent  of  really 
sickening  delicate  organizations.  There  are,  most 
probably,  emanations  of  a  still  more  ethereal  char- 
acter, more  spiritual  than  solid  or  physical.  One 
anknown  person  entering  a  room  where  there  is 
a  promiscuous  company,  will,  without  speaking  a 
word,  chill  the  whole  party ;  another  will  fill  it  with 
disgust ;  while  a  third  will  send  out  a  genial  influ- 
ence on  every  heart.  It  does  not  require  a  very 
large  stretch  of  the  imagination  to  infer  that  a  com- 
bination of  the  ethereal  or  spiritual  emanations  with 
the  more  solid  or  material,  may  certainly  act  in  such 
a  way  as  to  have  a  malign  influence  on  a  highly- 
wrought  or  very  susceptible  organization,  espe- 
cially when  brought  into  so  close  a  contact  as  that 
of  bedfellows.  It  is  known,  the  world  over,  that 
low  typhoid  fevers,  of  the  most  malignant  and  fatal 


264  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

type,  are  caused  by  human  emanations,  by  crowd- 
ing persons  in  confined  apartments. 

Eyery  rational  woman  who  has  a  mother's  heart, 
and  who  has  a  daughter  at  school,  will  make  it  a 
matter  of  aflfection  and  duty  to  do  all  that  is  possi- 
ble to  keep  her  uniformly  and  always  in  a  cheerful 
and  hopeful  frame  of  mind,  sympathizing  with  her 
in  her  difficulties,  and  sustaining  her  in  her  dis- 
couragements. 

The  moment  the  eyes  feel  tired,  the  very  mo- 
ment you  are  conscious  of  an  eflfort  to  read  or  sew, 
lay  aside  the  book  or  needle,  and  take  a  walk  for 
an  hour,  or  employ  yourself  in  some  active  exer- 
cise not  requiring  the  close  use  of  the  eyes. 

Hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars  have  been  made 
out  of  boys  from  fourteen  to  twenty,  and  bachelors, 
by  the  authors  of  books  on  physiology,  with  plates 
to  stimulate  prurient  curiosity  to  an  ungovernable 
pitch.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  these  publica- 
tions are  sold  and  given  away.  Scarcely  any 
youth  can  read  one  of  them  without  imbibing 
the  impression  that  he  is  the  victim  of  certain 
things,  which,  unless  promptly  corrected,  will  soon 
and  surely  lead  to  results  of  the  most  appalling 
character 

Those  who  bend  forward,  or  sit  crookedly,  are 
very  apt  to  fall  into  consumption. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  265 

For  wise  and  benign  purposes,  it  was  not  left  to 
man's  wisdom  —  seeing  that  few,  indeed,  have  any 
in  this  regard  —  to  daily  alter  the  amount  of  food 
and  drink  taken,  according  to  the  variability  of  the 
weather  and  the  work  done ;  but,  instead,  are  ap- 
pointed various  instincts  and  appetites,  self-operat- 
ing, and  beyond  our  control.  In  the  first  place,  the 
appetite  declines  as  the  weather  becomes  warmer ; 
and,  secondly,  it  seeks  for  articles  of  a  difibrent 
quality.  In  winter,  we  love  meats,  and  fats,  and 
starches,  and  oily  substances,  and  sweetmeets  of 
every  description,  because  from  a  half  to  four  fifths 
of  these  articles  are  heat-producing,  are  fuel  for 
the  furnace  of  life.  We  not  only  eat  them,  but 
have  an  appetite  for  large  quantities  of  them. 
When  summer  comes,  we  cannot  partake  of  them 
freely  —  we  crave  other  things ;  we  want  sweets 
no  longer,  but  are  eager  for  the  acid  berries, 
and  fruits,  and  tomatoes,  and  melons.  We  no 
longer  want  heating,  solid  food,  but  the  cooling 
and  watery  vegetable.  Sugar,  and  sago,  and  ar- 
row-root, and  corn-starch,  and  fresh  meats  have 
from  thirty  to  forty  per  cent,  of  solid,  heat-produ- 
cing substances ;  while  fats,  suets,  oils,  and  beans, 
and  rice  have  nearly  three  times  as  much.  But 
turning  to  the  vegetables,  and  salads,  and  greens, 
and  fruits,  and  berries,  and  melons  of  spring,  and 
summer,  and  autumn,  which  we  so  eagerly  crave, 
and  in  whose  consumption  we  luxuriate,  there  is  a 
marked  difierence. 


266  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Headache  is  generally  not  a  disease  in  the  head 
itself,  but  a  sign  or  symptom  that  something  is 
wrong  in  some  other  part  of  the  body.  In  almost 
every  case  it  is  accompanied  by  cold  feet,  costive- 
ness,  disordered  stomach,  or  a  derangement  of  the 
nervous  system  in  general  —  this  last  induced  by 
over-mental  exercise,  or  some  local  irritation  in  a 
distant  part  of  the  body.  In  all  these  cases,  an  ap- 
plication to  the  head  itself  is  only  palliative,  eradi- 
cates nothing,  cures  nothing.  If  the  feet  are  cold, 
they  must  be  made  permanently  dry  and  warm, 
thus  drawing  the  excess  of  blood  away  from  the 
head.  If  the  bowels  are  costive,  they  must  be 
made  to  act  once  every  twenty-four  hours,  freely 
and  habitually,  without  the  use  of  any  medicine. 
If  headache  comes  on  at  regular  times  after  eating, 
then  indigestion  is  the  cause,  and  such  food  should 
be  used,  both  in  quantity  and  quality,  as  will  not 
be  followed  by  this  symptom.  But  if  the  feet  are 
habitually  warm  and  comfortable,  if  the  bowels  act 
once,  regularly,  every  day,  and  if  it  is  clear  that  the 
headache  is  not  connected  with  the  eating,  then  its 
cause  must  be  found  in  some  part  of  the  system 
remote  from  the  head  itself,  and  it  is  safest  and 
best  to  take  competent  medical  advice  if  trouble, 
anxiety,  or  over-mental  exertion  is  not  the  pal- 
pable origin  of  the  ailment.  In  most  cases,  very 
severe  headaches  will  disappear  within  twenty- 
four  hours,  by  giving  the  scalp,  face,  and  whole 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  267 

body  a  most  thorough  cleansing  with  soap,  warm 
water,  and  a  rough  scrubbing-rag ;  taking  nothing 
but  cold  water  and  some  kind  of  soup,  into  which 
has  been  broken  the  crust  of  cold  or  toasted  bread, 
and  some  out-door  activities  for  several  hours  in 
the  forenoon  and  afternoon  also. 

If  you  want  to  convince  anybody  of  anything, 
argue  alone. 

Never  allow  your  children  to  leave  the  second 
or  third  story  in  the  morning,  until  they  have  had 
a  plain,  hearty  breakfast ;  and  send  them  up  stairs, 
within  half  an  hour  after  sundown,  or  give  them 
their  supper  at  sundown :  these  observances  ought 
to  be  adhered  to  from  May  until  October  in  the 
North,  and  from  April  to  November  in  the  South. 
A  rigid  attention  to  this  would  prevent  at  once 
half  the  diarrhoeas,  and  summer  complaints,  and 
croups  which  desolate  our  hearths  and  hearts  so 
often  in  summer-time  in  the  city. 

A  MAN  may  diet  as  well  as  physic  himself  to 
death. 

It  is  a  striking  argument  for  the  perversity  of  hu- 
man nature,  and  one  which  often  forces  itself  upon 
the  attention  of  observant  men,  that  we  bolt  a  con- 
centrated untruth  without  wincing,  while  what  is 
true,  with  all  its  simplicity,  and  beauty,  and  useful- 
ness, is  disputed,  inch  by  inch,  with  a  suspicious- 
ness and  a  pertinacity  most  remarkable. 


268  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Many  persons  have  gone  to  church,  taken  cold, 
gone  home,  and  died  in  a  few  days,  from  sitting  in 
an  ill-warmed  or  ill-ventilated  church,  arising  from 
the  inattention  or  ignorance  of  sextons  or  indiffer- 
ence of  church  officers ;  hence  tens  of  thousands 
are  interested,  to  the  extent  of  life  and  death,  in  the 
perusal  of  these  few  lines.  Perhaps  three  persons 
out  of  four  who  attend  divine  service  on  the  Sab- 
bath day  are  conscious,  within  two  minutes  after 
taking  their  seats,  that  they  have  been  in  a  hurry ; 
that  both  mind  and  body  have  been  more  or  less  in 
a  turmoil ;  they  have  been  hurried  in  getting  to 
church  in  time  ;  the  result  is,  they  are  overheated, 
that"  is,  the  body  is  in  a  state  of  warmth  considera- 
bly above  what  is  natural,  and  if  in  this  condition 
they  sit  still,  even  for  ten  minutes,  in  an  atmos- 
phere cooler  than  that  of  out-doors  in  summer, 
or  below  sixty  degrees  at  any  time,  a  cold  is  the 
result,  slight  or  more  severe,  according  to  the  vigor 
and  age  of  the  individual.  The  danger  is  still 
greater  if  the  room  has  been  closed  for  several 
days ;  this  is  specially  applicable  to  houses  of 
worship.  Within  a  few  minutes  after  the  benedic- 
tion,  at  the  close  of  the  Sabbath  services,  tlie  house 
is  shut  up,  doors,  windows,  and  all ;  the  atmosphere 
of  the  building  has  been  saturated  with  tlie  breath 
of  the  worshippers  ;  as  it  becomes  gradually  cooler, 
this  dampness  condenses  and  falls  towards  the  floor ; 
80   does   the    carbonic    acid    gas,   which   is   what 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  269 

becomes  so  UEpleasantly  perceptible  on  entering  a 
sleeping-chamber  after  a  morning  walk ;  and  there  is 
experienced  a  sepulchral  dampness  and  closeness 
enough  to  chill  any  one  on  first  entering  the  church, 
after  having  been  closed  several  days.  The  practi- 
cal conclusion  is,  that  every  church  ought  to  have 
the  windows  and  doors  open  for  several  hours, 
including  the  middle  of  the  day,  before  it  is  opened 
for  service.  In  cold  weather,  preparatory  to  the 
Sabbath  service,  this  ventilation  should  be  secured 
on  Friday,  and  early  on  Saturday  mornings  fires 
should  be  built,  and  steadily  kept  up,  day  and  night, 
until  the  Sabbath  services  are  concluded. 

The  greatest  loss,  is  the  loss  of  temper :  it  unfits 
U8  for  the  social  circle ;  it  unfits  for  business,  for 
pleasure,  and  for  religion.  The  exhibition  of  a  loss 
of  temper  always  degrades  ;  the  man  himself  feels 
it  a  very  few  moments  afterwards.  A  very  fre- 
quent cause  of  an  irritable  disposition,  of  a  fretful, 
complaining  temper,  always  ready  to  oppose,  object, 
and  find  fault,  is  dyspeptic  indigestion.  A  person 
at  the  table  will  be  gentle,  generous,  entertaining, 
and  agreeable ;  an  hour  later,  and  the  whole  charac- 
ter is  changed ;  there  is  a  querulousness,  a  rudeness, 
a  sulkiness,  a  contempt  of  every  rule  of  courtesy 
and  politeness,  which  is  as  amazing  as  it  is  degrad- 
ing. It  is  the  healthy  man  who  is  the  same  all  the 
time,  who  always  meets  you  with  a  cordial  welcome 
and  a  cheerful  manner.    You  are  never  sure,  in 


270  DR.   HALLOS  MAXIMS. 

approaching  a  dyspeptic,  even  though  your  nearest 
and  best  friend,  that  you  will  not  be  met  with  a  snap 
or  a  snarl ;  some  spiteful  remark  or  some  ill-natured 
action.  To  keep  your  temper,  then,  keep  weU; 
make  the  preservation  of  your  health  a  study  and 
a  duty ;  it  will  pay  handsomely ;  a  cheerful  heart 
makes  the  hands  nimble,  and  the  brain  active,  keen, 
ever  on  the  alert ;  hence  good  health  is  an  impor- 
tant element  of  business  success ;  and  more  than 
that,  the  greatest  of  modern  preachers,  the  most 
successful,  as  also  those  of  a  past  age,  were  and  are 
among  the  healthy  men ;  giving  them  high  animal 
spirits,  as  well  as  bodily  vigor  and  mental  elasticity, 
and  wit,  and  fun,  and  a  certain  degree  of  impu- 
dence, fearlessness,  and  self-assertion. 

The  rich  should  practise  economy  for  the  sake  of 
setting  a  good  example  to  those  in  more  moderate 
circumstances. 

A  GOOD  woman  never  grows  old.  Years  may 
pass  over  her  head,  but  if  benevolence  and  virtue 
dwell  in  her  heart,  she  is  cheerful  as  when  the 
spring  of  life  opened  to  her  view. 

The  more  sick  people  can  sleep,  the  sooner  they 
will  get  well. 

"  Simples  "  are  only  simple  when  in  their  proper 
place ;  and  the  familiar  quotation,  "  It  can  do  no 
harm  if  it  does  no  good,"  is  in  medicine,  at  least,  a 
dangerous  untruth. 


Dft.  hall's  maxims.  271 

It  has  become  very  common  to  invest  chewing- 
tobacco  and  snuff  in  load  foil.  Herr  Hockel  exam- 
ined some  snuff  from  a  quantity,  part  of  which  had 
been  used  by  a  patient  who  was  laboring  under  a 
severe  attack  of  lead  poisoning,  and  found  that  it 
contained  two  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  metallic  lead. 
The  tobacco  near  the  corners  of  the  package,  being 
more  perfectly  enclosed  by  the  foil,  contained  the 
most  lead,  which  is  decomposed  by  dampness,  and 
remains  in  the  tobacco  or  snuff  in  the  form  of 
carbonate  of  lead,  which  is  the  white  lead  paint  of 
commerce,  which  inflicts  such  horrible  sufferings 
on  many  of  those  whose  business  compels  them  to 
work  in  it.  The  slaves  of  the  disgusting  "  weed  " 
would  do  well  to  make  a  note  of  this,  and  either 
abandon  the  inexcusable  filthiness,  or  avoid  using 
any  that  is  enveloped  with  lead  foil. 

Facts  appear  to  show  that  however  healthful  and 
nutritious  the  onion  may  be  to  persons  in  good 
health,  and  in  healthful  surroundings,  it  is  most 
pernicious  to  sick  and  well  when  used  in  a  bad 
atmosphere,  where  epidemics,  such  as  cholera  and 
typhoids,  prevail. 

In  all  catarrhs,  chronic  or  acute,  long  or  short,  a 
wise  physician  will  do  nothing  to  stop  or  repress, 
but  will  use  means  to  cause  a  greater  activity  of 
the  liver,  and  prescribe  an  unstimulating  and  cool- 
ing diet,  warmth,  and  judicious  exercise. 


272  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Badly  chapped  hands  improve  rapidly,  if,  after 
the  night  washing,  common  sweet  oil  is  rubbed  in 
thoroughly,  and  a  pair  of  old  kid  gloves  are  worn 
during  the  night,  for  several  nights  in  succession. 

We  need  not  enumerate  the  countless  multi- 
tudes who  are  gradually  led  to  the  grave  by  the 
various  intoxications  of  alcohol,  opium,  and  tobacco, 
from  ignorance  of  the  fact,  that  the  appetite  for 
them  feeds  upon  itself,  and  grows  by  its  indul- 
gence. 

Many  a  pie  has  cost  an  industrious  man  a  hun- 
dred dollars.  A  human  life  has  many  a  time  paid 
for  an  apple-dumpling. 

A  VERY  large  share  of  the  worthlessness  and 
incompetence  of  our  domestics,  is  owing  to  the 
previous  unfitness  of  persons  to  be  mistresses. 

Debt  blunts  and  blights  the  finest  sensibilities  of 
our  nature ;  it  eats  out  the  sweetest  domestic  affec- 
tions ;  it  blasts  the  moral  character ;  it  robs  us  of 
our  manliness ;  and  where  there  was  once  all  that 
was  noble,  truthful,  high-minded,  there  is  nothing 
left  but  the  charred  waste  of  debased  manhood,  of 
contemptible  prevarications,  and  mean  conceal- 
ments. 

The  man  who  is  not  a  Christian,  by  principle  and 
practice,  should  regard  his  condition  "  with  fear  and 
trembling." 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  273 

Foe  ourselves  we  would  give  physic  a  wide  berth. 
If  we  had  a  "  flowing  from,"  a  catarrh,  a  cold,  all 
of  which  mean  precisely  the  same  thing  in  nature 
and  essence,  we  would  let  it  flow,  and  thus  have 
the  system  relieved  of  an  enemy,  whose  presence 
it  wiU  not  tolerate.  But  there  are  three  other 
things  which  may  be  done  to  very  great  advantage, 
because  they  would  expedite  the  cure.  Keep  the 
body  very  comfortably  warm  by  all  available  means, 
especially  the  feet.  Take  a  good  deal  of  exercise 
in  the  open  air,  to  the  extent  of  keeping  up  a  very 
slight  perspiration  for  several  hours  during  the 
twenty-four.  Live  on  light,  loosening,  cooling  food, 
—  moderate  amounts,  —  such  as  water-gruel,  crust 
of  bread,  stewed  fruits,  ripe  berries,  and  nothing 
else,  until  entirely  well. 

An  intemperate  man  or  woman  transmits  a  de- 
praved constitution  and  an  impaired  intellect  to 
children,  and  even  to  grandchildren.  The  statis- 
tics in  regard  to  the  idiots  of  Massachusetts,  pub- 
lished a  few  years  since,  furnished  a  volume  of 
proofs  to  the  same  general  statement.  The  more 
this  subject  is  investigated,  the  more  certain  it  wiU 
be  shown  that  the  use  of  liquors  is  impairing  the 
health  and  reason,  and  shortening  the  lives,  not  only 
of  those  who  drink,  but  of  their  descendants. 

The  most  terrible  enemy  that  man  encounters,  is 
liquor-drinking. 

18 


274  DE.  hall's  maxims. 

To  be  truly  religions,  and  to  have  true  views  on 
all  subjects  connected  with  religion,  a  man  should 
have  undisputed  health.  A  sound  mind  in  a  sound 
body  is,  I  believe,  an  axiom,  a  first  principle,  and  a 
healthfully  acting  mind  in  a  healthy  body  seems  to 
be  a  prerequisite  towards  giving  the  arguments  for 
religious  truth  the  consideration  due  them.  If  this 
be  so,  then  the  first  parental  duty  to  the  new-bom 
child  is,  not  in  reference  to  religion  directly,  but 
in  reference  to  its  health,  its  preservation  if  good, 
and  its  improvement  if  defective.  It  seems  then 
to  follow,  that  good  health,  other  things  being 
equal,  is  a  prerequisite  in  the  investigation  of 
religious  truth,  and  rather  increases  the  probability 
that  the  arguments  substantiating  such  truth  wiU 
be  properly  appreciated  ;  in  other  words,  a  healthy 
man  is  more  likely  to  be  brought  under  the  power 
of  religious  truth,  and  to  become  a  Christian  from 
sterling  principle,  than  an  unhealthy  man. 

Men  usually  diminish  their  clothing  after  exer- 
cise, and  thousands  perish  by  so  doing.  Three 
simple  rules  would,  in  this  connection,  prevent  an 
incalculable  amount  of  human  sufi'ering.  After 
any  form  of  exercise,  go  immediately  to  a  good  fire 
or  warm  room ;  or  put  on  additional  clothing ;  or 
leave  off  the  exercise  very  gradually,  the  more  so, 
the  colder  the  weather  is. 

When  you  speak  to  a  person,  look  him  in  the 
foce. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  275 

Inexperience  only  is  positive.  It  is  tho  charlatan 
who  lies  remorselessly,  and  he  lives  by  it ;  and  yet, 
in  four  cases  ont  of  five,  the  patient  will  intrust  his 
health  and  life  to  the  keeping  of  the  man  who  is 
most  profuse,  and  brazen,  and  self-confident  in  his 
promises  of  amendment. 

If  a  person's  lungs  are  not  well  developed,  the 
health  will  be  imperfect,  but  the  development  may 
be  increased  several  inches  in  a  few  months  by 
daily  out-door  runnings  with  the  mouth  closed, 
beginning  with  twenty  yards  and  back  at  a  time, 
increasing  ten  yards  every  week,  until  a  hundred 
are  gone  over  thrice  a  day.  A  substitute  for 
ladies,  and  persons  in  cities,  is  running  up  stairs 
with  the  mouth  closed,  which  compels  very  deep 
inspirations,  in  a  natural  way,  at  the  end  of  the 
journey. 

When  a  man  begins  to  croak  about  "  hard  times," 
and  about  everybody  getting  worse,  the  whole 
world  included,  it  behooves  him  to  inquire  if  it  is 
not  he  kimself  who  is  thus  depreciating  in  value,  in 
his  industry,  his  activity,  his  sterling  worth,  and  his 
high  resolution.  Energetic  men  are  not  croakers. 
The  resolute,  and  those  whose  motto  is  "  upward," 
—  whose  actions  show  "  progress,"  —  are  not  tho 
men  who  feel  disposed  to  believe  in  coming  ruin. 

Avoid  severe  study  or  deep  emotion  soon  after 
eating. 


276  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  popular  notion  that  one  or  two  kinds  of  food 
at  a  meal  is  most  wholesome,  is  wholly  untrue.  On 
the  contrary,  several  kinds  at  a  meal,  other  things 
being  equal,  are  more  conductive  to  our  well  being. 
Quantity,  and  not  quality,  is  the  measure  of  health. 

The  time  to  drink  tea  is  at  supper,  when  the 
lightest  meal  of  the  day  is  taken ;  for,  by  its  ex- 
hilarating effects,  it  destroys  the  sense  of  hunger, 
and  enables  a  person  to  go  to  sleep  without  having 
much  in  the  stomach  to  keep  it  working  all  night, 
and  so  prevent  sound,  refreshing  sleep. 

One  of  the  great  secrets  of  health  is  a  light  sup- 
per, and  yet  it  is  a  great  self-denial,  when  one  is 
hungry  and  tired  at  the  close  of  the  day,  to  eat 
little  or  nothing ;  let  such  a  one  take  leisurely  a 
single  cup  of  tea  and  a  piece  of  cold  bread  with 
butter,  and  he  will  leave  the  table  as  fully  pleased 
with  himself  and  all  the  world  as  if  he  had 
eaten  a  heavy  meal,  and  be  tenfold  the  better  for 
it  next  morning.  Take  any  two  men  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances,  strong,  hard-working  men,  of 
twenty-five  years ;  let  one  take  his  bread  and 
butter  with  a  cup  of  tea,  and  the  other  a  hearty 
meal  of  meat,  bread,  potatoes,  and  the  ordinary  et 
ceteras,  as  the  last  meal  of  the  day,  and  I  will  ven- 
ture to  aflSrm  that  the  tea-drinker  will  outlive  the 
other  by  thirty  years. 

Keep  your  own  secrets,  if  you  have  any. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  277 

Riding  on  horseback  is,  perhaps,  of  all  others,  the 
most  manly,  elegant,  and  efficient  form  of  exercise. 
Tn  the  first  place,  it  cannot  be  taken  without  being 
out  of  doors,  then  it  enables  you  to  breathe  a 
larger  amount  of  fresh  air  than  if  walking,  because 
you  pass  through  a  greater  space  in  less  time,  and 
consequently  a  greater  number  of  layers,  or  rather 
sections  of  fresh  air,  come  in  contact  with  the 
nostrils,  with  less  fatigue.  Another  advantage  is, 
that  all  the  muscles  of  the  body  are  exercised  in 
moderation,  and,  to  a  certain  extent,  equally  so. 
And  then  again,  while  thus  exercising,  and  while 
every  step  forward  gives  you  a  fresh  draught  of 
pure  out-door  air,  the  mind  is  entertained  by 
every  variety  of  objects,  new  things  being  con- 
stantly presented.  The  only  thing  to  be  guarded 
against  is  a  feeling  of  chilliness ;  this  is  essential 
for  every  chill  is  an  injury;  whether  a  man  be 
sick  or  well,  a  chill  must  necessarily  be  succeeded 
by  a  fever,  and  fever  is  disease. 

Fob  half  an  hour  after  eating  sit  erect,  or  walk 
in  the  open  air. 

The  smallest  debts  should  be  paid  first,  on  the 
presumption  that  the  smaller  the  debt  the  poorer 
is  your  creditor,  the  less  his  ability  to  borrow,  in 
case  he  is  disappointed  in  getting  what  you  owe 
him,  and  the  less  can  he  afibrd  the  time  required 
in  calling  on  you. 


278  DE.  hall's  maxims. 

Very  few  of  our  daily  penny  papers  are  fit  to 
be  read  at  tlie  family  fireside.  Certainly  not  one 
in  a  dozen  of  all  city  weekly  papers,  not  connected 
with  a  daily  issue,  but  is  chargeable  justly  with 
being  made  up  with  the  veriest  trash,  to  say 
nothing  of  their  frequent  obscenity,  their  slang, 
their  spiteful  hits  at  religion,  its  ministers,  its 
professors,  and  the  Bible  itself. 

Many  persons  aggravate  throat  complaints  by 
muflSers,  wearing  scarfs  or  extra  covering  about 
the  neck ;  these  do  keep  the  throat  warm,  but  in 
every  change  of  position  of  the  head  or  face  some 
part  of  the  neck  or  throat  is  moved  from  the  cov- 
ering; the  covering  does  not  adapt  itself  to  or 
follow  the  movement,  hence  the  cold  air  rushes  in 
upon  that  unprotected  part  and  chills  it ;  but  the 
beard  follows  every  motion  of  the  head  or  face 
faithfully,  and  thus  is  the  most  perfect  muffler  that 
can  possibly  be  devised.  Nature's  provisions  can- 
not be  interfered  with  with  impunity. 

The  location  of  water-closets,  in  connection  with 
a  family  residence,  has  an  important  bearing  on  the 
health  of  any  family  —  a  greater  influence  on  the 
destiny  of  many  than  would  be  supposed  by  other 
than  a  medical  practitioner.  It  is  of  the  very  first 
importance  that  they  should  be  always,  and  instant- 
ly, and  easily,  accessible ;  in  proportion  as  this  is 
not  the  case,  the  calls  of  Nature  are  postponed. 


DB.  hall's  MAxms.  279 

Facts  seem  to  show  the  absurdity  of  the  vaga 
ries  of  many  who  set  themselves  up  as  reformers 
and  would-be  saviors  of  the  race,  closing  their  eyes 
against  the  glaring  fact  that  the  food  of  the  indi- 
vidual must  be  adapted  to  his  temperament,  his 
locality,  and  his  occupation.  But  in  all  this  the 
great  truth  stands  out  with  unmistakable  prom- 
inence, that  God  is  good,  in  that  intending  man  to 
habitate  the  globe,  he  has  adapted  him,  with  rea- 
sonable restrictions,  to  live  anywhere,  and  on  any- 
thing. And  while  witless  hosts  are  ranging  them- 
selves in  hostile  fronts  as  meaters  and  anti-meaters, 
vegetarians  and  grapeites,  sensible  people  will  eat 
in  moderation  what  they  like  best,  according  to 
Nature's  instincts,  taking  their  food  in  moderation, 
taking  care  that  the  fruits  should  be  ripe  and  per- 
fect, the  vegetables  fresh,  the  meat  taken  from 
well-fed  and  healthy  carcasses,  and  all  cleanlily 
prepared,  thoroughly  cooked,  served  in  simple 
style,  and  eaten  in  contentment,  thankfulness,  and 
joviality. 

A  SINGLE  drop  of  tobacco  oil  will  kill  a  cat  or  dog 
in  five  minutes. 

Inconsistent  as  it  may  seem  at  first  sight,  the 
beard  not  only  keeps  the  parts  genially  warm  in 
winter,  but  by  its  evaporating  influence,  cools  the 
parts  wonderfully  in  the  hottest  weather,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  breaking  the  force  of  the  hot  sun. 


280  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  taller  men  are,  other  things  being  equal,  the 
more  lungs  they  have,  and  the  greater  number  of 
cubic  inches  of  air  they  can  take  in  or  deliver  at  a 
single  breath.  It  is  generally  thought  that  a  man's 
lungs  are  sound  and  well-developed  in  proportion 
to  his  girth  around  the  chest,  yet  observation  shows 
that  slim  men,  as  a  rule,  will  run  faster,  and  farther, 
with  less  fatigue,  having  "  more  wind  "  than  stout 
men. 

The  sanctity  of  the  marriage  relation,  as  inter- 
preted in  the  Bible,  in  its  fullest  sense,  is  at  the 
foundation  of  a  true  civilization,  and  the  more 
rigidly  it  is  adhered  to  the  more  elevated,  the  more 
refined,  the  purer,  the  happier  will  society  be. 

OuB  personal  experience  has  convinced  us,  that 
with  a  rational  care  a  man  may  live  healthfully 
anywhere.  That  men  get  sick  and  die  in  latitudes 
not  their  own,  is  the  result  of  downright  ignorance 
or  inexcusable  presumption.  That  some  persons 
will  die  from  change  of  climate  is  not  denied ;  but 
it  is  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  The  great  gen- 
eral fact  is  capable  of  the  most  conclusive  proof, 
that  loss  of  life  is  not  the  necessary  attendant  of 
any  change  of  latitude.  With  the  light  which  med- 
ical observation  and  research  have  thrown  out, 
companies  of  men,  women,  and  children  may  live 
in  healthfulness  in  any  climate  to  which  they  may 
emigrate. 


DB.  hall's  mazius.  281 

To  guzzle  down  glass  after  glass  of  cold  water, 
on  getting  up  in  the  morning,  without  any  feeling 
of  thirst,  under  the  impression  of  the  health-giving 
nature  of  its  washing-out  qualities,  is  stupidity. 

It  is  stupidity  to  persuade  yourself  that  you  are 
destroying  one  unpleasant  odor  by  introducing  a 
stronger  one,  that  is,  attempting  to  sweeten  your 
own  unwashed  garments  and  person,  by  envelop- 
ing yourself  in  the  fumes  of  musk,  eau  de  cologne, 
or  rose-water:  the  best  perfume  being,  a  clean 
Bkin  and  well-washed  clothing. 

Common  consumption  begins  uniformly  with  im- 
perfect, insufficient  breathing ;  it  is  the  character- 
istic of  the  disease  that  the  breath  becomes  shorter 
and  shorter,  through  weary  months,  down  to  the 
close  of  life,  and  whatever  counteracts  that  short 
breathing,  whatever  promotes  deeper  inspirations, 
is  curative  to  that  extent,  inevitably  and  under  all 
circumstances.  Let  any  person  make  the  exper- 
iment by  reading  this  page  aloud,  and  in  less  than 
three  minutes  the  instinct  of  a  long  breath  will 
show  itself.  This  reading  aloud  develops  a  weak 
voice,  and  makes  it  sonorous.  It  has  great  effi- 
ciency, also,  in  making  the  tones  clear  and  distinct, 
freeing  them  from  that  annoying  hoarseness  which 
the  unaccustomed  reader  exhibits  before  he  has 
gone  over  half  a  page,  when  he  has  to  stop  and 
"  hem,"  and  clear  away,  to  the  confusion  of  hin^ 
self  as  much  as  that  of  the  subject. 


282  DR.  hall'8  maxims. 

There  is  as  much  nourishment  in  a  pound  loaf 
of  bread  as  tli.ere  is  in  one  hundred  and  forty-six 
gallons  of  the  best  beer,  and  yet  beer,  and  ale,  and 
porter  are  constantly  recommended  to  invalids  as 
nourishing  —  porter,  be  it  remembered,  being  noth- 
ing more  than  unsalable  beer  colored  with  burnt 
malt  to  hide  the  defects.  But  even  as  to  beer,  if 
the  fermentation  is  complete,  there  is  not  an  atom 
of  nourishment  in  a  barrel  of  it. 

Nothing  stronger  than  lukewarm  water  should 
ever  be  applied  to  the  eye,  except  by  special  med- 
ical advice,  and  under  special  medical  supervision ; 
for  we  have  only  one  pair  to  lose. 

My  own  views  as  to  the  cure  of  cholera,  as  far 
as  I  have  seen,  are,  that  when  calomel  fails  to  cure 
it,  everything  else  will  fail,  and  that  it  will  cure 
every  curable  case. 

Many  a  reader  will  acknowledge  a  decided  feel- 
ing of  irritation  or  impatience,  if  not  actual  men- 
tal anathema,  at  the  inconsiderate  practice  of  many 
church-goers  of  stopping  to  shake  hands  in  the 
aisles,  at  the  close  of  religious  services. 

Long  prayers  are  impolitic ;  they  engender  an 
irritable  frame  of  mind,  and  make  the  body  rest- 
less. Short,  earnest,  fervent  prayers  wake  up 
the  attention,  and  soften  and  soothe  the  unquiet 
spirit. 


Dli.  hall's  maxims.  283 

Biting  off  tho  fingor-nails  is  an  uncleanly  prac- 
tice, for  thus  the  unsightly  collections  at  the  ends 
are  kept  eaten  clean !  Children  may  be  broken  of 
such  a  filthy  habit  by  causing  them  to  dip  the  ends 
of  their  fingers  several  times  a  day  in  wormwood 
bitters,  without  letting  them  know  the  object.  If 
this  is  not  sufiicient,  cause  them  to  wear  caps  on 
each  finger  until  the  practice  is  discontinued. 

If  music  is  a  part  of  public  worship,  as  much  as 
preaching,  perhaps  there  can  be  no  good  reason 
why  the  people  should  not  "face  the  music,"  as  they 
are  called  upon  to  do  in  another  sense,  a  superior 
voice  commanding  as  high  as  two  thousand  dollars 
a  year.  An  opera  would  soon  find  it  a  losing  busi- 
ness if  the  artists  were  placed  behind  the  people, 
and  the  concert-room  would  be  entirely  deserted. 
In  my  opinion,  every  consideration,  whether  of  con- 
venience, comfort,  taste,  enjoyment,  as  well  as  the 
commonest  propriety,  demands  a  prompt  and  univer- 
sal change  in  this  respect.  If  we  are  to  have  choirs 
in  our  churches  at  all,  let  them  face  the  people,  and 
thus  save  many  a  valuable  neck,  to  say  nothing 
as  to  the  advantages  of  harmony  and  tune,  which 
would  be  an  inevitable  result. 

The  most  nutritious  articles  of  food  are  meats 
and  the  cereals :  that  is,  corn,  wheat,  oats,  rye,  &c 
Vegetables  are  the  least  nutritious,  and  in  cities, 
especially,  the  most  expensive. 


284  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Robust  health  does  not  belong  to  a  man  maiulj 
because  he  eats  this  and  refuses  that ;  but  a  wise 
Providence  has  so  ordered  it,  that  the  people  of  a 
clime  may  live  and  thrive,  and  be  happy  and  great 
by  the  products  of  that  clime,  and  that  in  indi- 
vidual constitutions  there  is  an  adaptability  by 
which  men  can  live  in  health  anywhere.  In  short, 
the  world  was  made  for  man  by  that  Father,  whose 
boundless  goodness  has  provided  for  him  all  things 
richly  to  enjoy.  Those  who  do  not  indulge  in  the 
wholesome  variety  which  has  been  prepared  foi 
them,  but  insist  on  discarding  this,  that,  and  the 
other,  finally  come  down  in  their  vagaries,  until  a 
man  writes  a  book  of  two  hundred  pages  to  prove 
that  meats  are  forbidden,  and  that  if  we  don't  quit 
eating  so  much  wheat  bread,  the  bone  will  become 
80  brittle,  that  every  time  a  man  stumps  his  toe, 
said  bones  will  snap  like  pipe-stems,  closing  by 
suggesting  as  the  surest  means  of  living  long,  in 
vigorous  health,  that  men  should  live  almost  exclu. 
sively  on  grapes. 

Clergymen,  somehow  or  other,  often  become 
possessed  with  the  idea,  that  however  any  speci- 
fied practice  or  thing  may  injure  others,  it  would 
not  injure  them,  and  thus  practically  claim  an 
exemption  from  the  common  laws  of  mortality. 

A  GREAT  cause  of  dyspepsia  in  ministers,  is  eat- 
ing too  soon  after  preaching. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  285 

When  any  man  is  disabled  by  sickness  from  dis- 
charging his  duty  to  himself,  his  family,  or  to 
society,  the  question  should  at  once  be,  "  Is  it  from 
Heaven,  or  of  men  ?  "  Not  of  the  former,  for  it  is 
said,  He  does  not  willingly  afflict  the  children  of 
men ;  consequently,  sickness  is  not  of  His  sending. 
It  is  the  result  of  causes  within  ourselves.  In  a 
literal  sense,  as  well  as  a  moral,  it  is  true,  "  0 
Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself!"  In  plainer 
terms,  disease  is  not  sent  upon  us ;  we  bring  it 
upon  ourselves,  and,  therefore,  health  is  a  duty 
incumbent  on  all. 

Ordinarily,  mattresses  of  shucks,  chaff,  straw, 
or  curled  hair  are  best  to  sleep  upon.  For  old 
persons  and  those  of  feeble  vitality,  there  is  nothing 
better  than  a  clean  feather  bed.  No  one  can  sleep 
well  if  cold.  Have  as  little  covering  as  possible 
from  just  above  the  knees  upwards,  but  cover  the 
legs  and  feet  abundantly,  for  by  keeping  them 
warm,  the  blood  is  withdrawn  from  the  brain,  and 
to  that  extent  dreaming  is  prevented. 

When  a  man  is  a  fool,  you  can't  make  him  believe 
it ;  he  will  not  medicate  his  malady ;  hence,  with 
all  his  experiences,  he  gets  to  be  a  bigger  fool 
every  day  to  the  very  last. 

Many  a  man  knows  how  much  it  contributes  to 
his  health  and  happiness  to  find  peace,  and  quiet, 
and  unity  at  home. 


286  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Persons  have  lived  in  good  health  to  the  age  of 
threescore  years  and  ten,  who  rose  early,  or  rose 
late  ;  who  drank  liquor  three  times  a  day  (or  an  in- 
definite number  of  times),  or  did  not  drink  it  at  all ; 
who  were  out  of  doors  a  great  deal,  or  seldom  had 
the  sunshine  on  them ;  who  were  very  good,  or 
who  were  very  bad.  The  object  of  these  state- 
ments is  to  show  the  fallacy  of  attributing  a  long 
and  healthful  life  to  one  thing,  —  to  its  presence  or 
its  absence,  —  and  to  direct  attention  to  this  impor- 
tant truth,  one  which  strikingly  exhibits  the  wis- 
dom and  the  love  of  our  Father  in  heaven :  that 
men  can  live  long  in  any  country,  clime,  or  latitude, 
in  the  use  of  the  things  around  them,  by  wisely 
adapting  themselves  to  their  circumstances,  in 
temperance,  industry,  and  equanimity ;  that  these 
not  only  of  themselves  promote  length  of  days,  but 
antagonize  the  baleful  effects  of  deleterious  agen- 
cies. If  a  man  does  bathe  every  day,  or  never 
uses  tea,  coffee,  liquor,  or  tobacco,  or  eschews  fish, 
flesh,  and  fowl,  he  will  not  be  exempt  from  disease 
and  premature  death,  unless  he  is  temperate,  care- 
ful, systematic,  and  serene ;  and  with  these,  he  can 
cover  "  a  multitude  of  sins  "  physical. 

Too  many  parents  consider  labor  degrading,  and 
consequently  push  their  children  into  the  profes- 
sions, into  salaried  positions,  when  in  reality  they 
are  far  better  adapted  to  the  plough.  Manual  labor 
everywhere  merits  respect  and  honor. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  287 

Better  a  thousand  times,  socially,  morally,  and 
physically,  hire  a  two-roomed  shanty,  live  on  bread 
and  potatoes,  and  do  the  housework  without  the 
aid  of  menials,  and  continue  to  do  these  things 
until  means  are  accumulated  to  take  a  step  higher. 
Thus  doing,  we  would  not  see  a  tithe  of  the  sick 
wives  we  now  do,  not  a  tithe  of  the  unhappy 
matches,  the  disgraceful  divorces,  and  the  early 
wreck  of  business  prospects,  which  leave  so  many 
men  disabled  before  they  are  thirty  years  of  age ; 
disabled  for  life  from  engaging  in  any  handsomely 
profitable  employment,  in  consequence  of  a  load 
of  indebtedness^  which  it  would  take  a  lifetime  to 
liquidate. 

A  MAN  is  in  little  danger  of  eating  too  much,  if 
he  will  confine  himself  to  two  or  three  plain  articles 
of  diet  at  any  one  meal ;  this  is  a  secret  which  every 
man  and  woman  in  the  land  ought  to  know.  Liv- 
ing exclusively  on  cold  food  will  soon  engender 
disease,  especially  in  cold  weather.  And  as  cer- 
tainly will  a  scant  diet  do  the  same  if  perse- 
vered in. 

Millions  of  children  die  before  they  are  two 
years  old,  by  a  wrong  system  of  feeding,  originat- 
ing in  the  ignorance  of  the  parents.  The  instinct 
and  the  highest  pleasure  of  the  new-born  child  is 
to  eat ;  it  is  the  balm  for  all  its  cries,  it  hushes  every 
complaint. 


288  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Wooden  hotises  are  warm  and  dry,  and  for  the 
country,  as  well  as  for  town  and  country  in  the 
South,  are  greatly  to  be  preferred.  Damp  dwell- 
ings originate  consumption,  in  its  most  insidious 
and  resistless  forms.  If  a  house  is  built  of  brick 
or  stone,  the  plastering  should  never  be  laid  on  the 
wall  itself;  the  wall  should  be  lathed,  so  as  to  have 
an  inch  or  more  between  the  brick  or  stone  and 
the  lathing  on  which  the  plaster  should  be  spread. 

It  is  inconsiderate  to  take  a  medicine,  simply 
because  it  had  cured  some  one  else  who  had  an 
ailment  similar  to  your  own.  Of  two  donkeys,  on 
the  verge  of  utter  exhaustion  and  prostration,  the 
one  laden  with  salt  was  greatly  refreshed,  and  had 
his  burden  largely  lightened,  by  swimming  a  river ; 
the  other,  with  a  sack  of  wool,  by  the  same  oper- 
ation doubled  the  weight  of  his  load,  and  perished. 

Passionate  people,  the  hasty  kind,  who  flare  up 
in  a  blaze,  like  fire  to  tow,  or  a  coal  to  powder, 
without  taking  time  to  inquire  whether  there  is 
any  ground  for  such  a  pyrotechnic  display,  and 
then  get  more  furious  when  they  find  out  there 
was  no  cause  for  their  fiery  feats,  may  learn  a  use- 
ful, as  well  as  a  serious  lesson,  from  the  fact  thai 
uncontrollable  temper  has  caused  many  cases  of 
insanity. 

No  person  can  thrive  or  grow  fat  when  the  mind 
is  distressed. 


DR.   hall's  MAa^IMS.  289 

"  Common  red  wafers,  scattered  about  the  haunts 
of  cockroaches,  will  often  drive  away,  if  not  destroy 
them."  These  wafers,  like  candies,  are  colored  red 
by  oxide  of  lead  —  a  most  deadly  poison,  and  so  is 
the  acetate  of  lead,  or  sugar  of  lead,  as  it  is  some- 
times called,  on  visiting  cards,  which  being  a  little 
sweetish,  has  been  known  to  destroy  young  chil- 
dren to  whom  they  were  handed  to  amuse  them. 

Any  patent  medicine  is  a  cure  for  a  given  dis- 
ease, or  it  is  not.  If  it  is  not  a  cure,  it  is  false 
and  criminal  to  sell  it  as  a  cure.  If,  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  what  it  professes  to  be,  it  cannot  be 
much  better  than  murder  to  withhold  it  from  those 
who  cannot  purchase  it,  and  to  allow  thousands,  at 
i  distance,  to  die  from  the  want  of  it,  who  never 
aeard  of  it,  or,  if  they  did,  live  too  far  away  to 
send  for  it  in  time.  Let  those  who  purchase  these 
articles  think  of  the  argument,  and  aid  and  abet 
no  more,  by  their  patronage,  those  who  allow  their 
fellow-creatures  to  die  by  thousands  every  year, 
who  would  be  saved  (if  what  is  said  be  true)  by 
the  knowledge  of  the  remedy  whose  composition  is 
so  carefully  concealed. 

It  is  known  that  a  systematic  life  of  temperance 
has  given  sixty  years  additional  to  a  broken-down 
constitution  of  forty  ;  therefore,  it  becomes  almost 
a  crime  for  an  invalid  under  fifty  years  of  age  not 
to  avail  himself  of  the  trial. 
19 


200  DB.   HALLOS  MAXIMS. 

When  a  man  is  an  invalid,  the  amount  of  food, 
air,  and  exercise  requires  as  much  of  medical  intel- 
ligence, experience,  and  skill  as  would  the  judicious 
exhibition  of  medicine. 

You  need  not  be  afraid  of  out-door  air,  night  or 
iay,  as  long  as  you  are  in  motion  sufficient  to  keep 
off  a  feeling  of  chilliness ;  hence,  in  cold  weather, 
exercise  on  foot  is  preferable  to  riding.  While 
walking,  in  moderately  cold  weather,  the  hands 
should  be  covered  with  a  thin  pair  of  gloves,  such 
as  silk  or  thread,  and  woollen  ones  in  midwinter. 

A  HIGHER  degree  of  medical  intelligence  has  ex- 
tended the  average  of  human  life,  —  in  some  places 
fifty  per  cent.,  taking  all  diseases  together ;  and  it  is 
reasonable  to  suppose  that  increased  intelligence  as 
to  one  class  of  diseases  would,  in  the  course  of  time, 
have  a  like  happy  effect;  that  if  more  truthful 
views  as  to  the  nature,  causes,  and  symptoms  of 
diseases  of  the  lungs  were  extensively  promulgated 
among  the  people,  their  fearful  ravages  would  be 
diminished  in  corresponding  proportion. 

Thousands  of  persons,  especially  in  cities,  in 
order  to  avoid  dosing  with  physicians,  as  it  is 
termed,  will  purchase  a  patent  medicine,  and  take 
five  times  as  much  physic  in  a  week  as  a  scientific 
practitioner  would  have  administered  in  a  month 
—  the  labels  often  running  "  from  one  to  two  table- 
Bpoons  three  or  four  times  a  day." 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  291 

When  the  body  is  diseased,  it  is  because  it  is  full 
of  diseased,  decayed,  dead,  and  useless  particles ; 
the  object  of  exercise,  as  well  as  medicine,  is  to 
throw  oif  these  particles ;  medicine  does  it  more 
quickly,  but  exercise  more  safely  and  certainly,  if 
there  is  time  to  wait  for  its  effects. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  symptoms  of  a  disease 
of  the  heart,  and  those  of  the  lungs  as  well  as  those 
of  a  spinal  affection,  are  so  apparently  alike  in  the 
main,  that  it  requires  large  medical  experience  to 
decide  safely  and  certainly  between  them ;  but  the 
exercise  requisite  in  an  affection  of  the  lungs 
would  inevitably  destroy  life  if  advised  for  a  disease 
of  the  heart  or  spine.  In  no  form  of  sickness,  ia 
exercise  so  immediately  and  certainly  fatal  as  in 
heart  affections,  while  the  results  of  active  exercise 
in  spinal  disease  are  terrible,  literally  terrible,  noi 
in  their  immediate  effects  as  involving  life,  but  in 
the  certain  penalty  of  weeks  and  months,  and  weary 
years,  of  corporeal  helplessness,  and  agonizing, 
almost  ceaseless .  pain,  requiring  a  thousand  times 
more  endurance  and  a  far  higher  degree  of  fortitude 
than  marching  up  to  the  cannon's  mouth  in  the 
heat  of  battle.  This  shows  the  importance  of  tak- 
ing early  competent  medical  advice  in  cases  of 
sickness. 

There  can  be  no  cure  of  cholera  without 
quietude — the  quietude  of  lying  on  the  back. 


292  DR.   HAU  S  MAXIMS. 

A  PERSON  in  good  health,  and  of  medium  size,  will, 
in  eight  honrs'  sleep,  breathe  nine  hundred  gallons 
of  air ;  but  if  one  fifth  of  his  lungs  are  inoperative, 
he  consumes  in  the  same  time  one  hundred  and 
eighty  gallons  less,  and  in  the  course  of  twenty- 
four  hours,  seven  hundred  gallons  less  than  he 
ought  to  do.  No  wonder  then,  that  when  the  lungs 
begin  to  work  less  freely  than  they  ought  to  do,  the 
face  so  soon  begins  to  pale,  the  appetite  fails,  the 
strength  declines,  the  flesh  fades,  and  the  victim 
dies.  Not  only  are  consumptions  traceable  to  this 
habitual  deficiency  of  respiration,  but  rheumatism, 
colds,  chiUs,  ague,  bilious,  yellow,  and  putrid  fevers, 
suppressions,  whites,  dyspepsia,  and  the  like.  So 
that,  in  every  view  of  the  case,  any  method  wliich 
secures  the  prompt  detection  of  this  insuflScient 
breathing,  and  rectifies  it  without  delay,  should 
merit  and  demand  the  immediate  investigation  of 
every  lover  of  the  health  and  happiness  of  mankind. 

Many  men  perform  the  wonderful  necromantic 
trick  of  "  digging  their  gi'ave  with  their  own 
teeth,"  and  others,  still  more  strangely,  seem  to 
glide  down  their  own  throats  into  air. 

It's  the  people  who  have  leisure  to  mood  and 
mope,  and  hug  sharp-pointed  memories,  who  fill 
our  asylums,  and  not  those  who  have  a  dozen  irons 
in  the  fire  at  the  same  time. 

Those  who  know  least  are  most  positive. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  293 

"  The  Springs  "  have  proved  the  grave  of  many 
young  people  with  consumptive  symptoms,  and 
older  consumptives  generally  get  worse  there. 
The  high  feeding,  or  get-what-you-can  system  of 
diet  at  watering-places,  fashionable  hotels,  and 
boarding-houses,  their  Lilliputian,  one-windowed 
rooms,  from  one  to  "  five-pair  back,"  the  midnight 
clatter  along  interminable  passages,  the  tardy,  or 
no  answer,  to  bell-call,  the  lookout  from  your 
chamber  window  over  some  stable,  side-alley,  or 
neighbor's  back  yard;  these,  with  the  coldness, 
and  utter  want  of  sympathy  at  such  places,  would 
soon  make  a  well  man  sick,  and  will  kill,  instead  of 
curing,  the  consumptive.  They  want,  instead  of 
these,  the  free,  fresh  mountain  air,  the  plain  sub- 
stantial food  of  the  country  farm-house,  the  gallop 
along  the  highways,  the  climbing  over  the  hills  by 
day,  and  the  nightly  re-unions  with  family,  and  kin- 
dred,  and  friends.  And  yet  the  million  stereotype 
this  mistake,  against  all  reason  and  common  sense. 
Only  now  and  then  is  one  found  to  choose  the  bet- 
ter way,  against  troops  of  remonstrants  and  op- 
posers,  who  never  had  experience,  who  never 
think  for  themselves  —  and  that  is  the  brave 
man  who  gets  well,  especially  when  he  is  deter- 
mined to  do  so. 

Anything  taken  medicinally  as  a  preventive  of 
cholera  will  inevitably,  and  under  all  circumstan- 
ces, increase  the  liability  to  an  attack. 


294  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

The  human  body  is  in  constant  transition.  The 
particles  of  which  its  structure  is  constituted  are 
not  the  same  in  position  and  relation  for  any  two 
minutes  in  succession.  Thousands  of  atoms  which 
compose  it  the  present  instant,  are  separated  from 
it  the  next,  to  make  a  part  of  it  no  more;  and  other 
thousands,  which  are  a  portion  of  the  reader's  liv- 
ing self,  while  scanning  this  line,  will  have  been 
rendered  useless  and  dead  on  reading  the  next. 
There  are  two  different  armies  of  workers,  whose 
occupations  cease  not  from  the  cradle  to  the 
grave.  One  army,  composed  of  its  countless  mil- 
lions, is  building  up  the  body;  the  other  removes  its 
waste ;  one  party  brings  in  the  wood  and  the  coal 
for  the  fireplace  and  the  grate,  the  other  carries 
away  the  ashes  and  cinders  —  the  builders  and 
the  cleansers.  When  the  builders  work  faster 
than  the  cleansers,  a  man  becomes  fat,  and  over- 
fat  is  a  disease.  When  the  cleansers  are  too  active, 
the  man  becomes  lean,  and  wastes  away  to  a  skele- 
ton, as  in  consumption.  Health  consists  in  the 
proper  equilibrium  of  these  workers. 

It  is  surprising  how  little  is  known  of  Hominy ; 
this  is  a  nutritious,  healthy  food,  and  what  an  excel- 
lent substitute  \\  is  for  potatoes  during  the  contin- 
uation of  the  disease  among  them,  which  renders 
some  that  are  fair  to  the  eye  unfit  for  food,  and  all 
exceedingly  dear ! 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  295 

It  is  as  impossible  for  a  man  in  perfect  health 
to  be  stricken  down  in  a  moment  with  a  danger- 
ous disease,  as  it  is  for  a  man  who  has  been  honest 
from  principle  for  a  lifetime  to  become  in  a  day  a 
forger  or  a  swindler. 

If  a  man  can  afford  to  eat  fried  gold  for  break- 
fast, boiled  bank  notes  for  dinner,  and  roasted  dol- 
lars for  supper,  he  can  afford  to  eat  potatoes 
cooked  in  the  same  way,  when  they  sell  at  two 
dollars  and  fifty  cents  per  bushel,  and  not  other- 
wise. In  point  of  economy  as  human  food,  one 
bushel  of  beans  or  hominy  is  equal  to  ten  of 
potatoes. 

We  have  no  right,  as  we  practically  do,  to  a 
great  extent,  to  depute  the  religious  instruction 
of  our  children  to  anybody  —  not  even  to  the  min- 
ister, exclusively ;  that  is  the  duty  of  the  father 
and  mother,  so  that  the  holiest  memories  of  a  de- 
parted mother's  affection  may  be  so  entwined  with 
her  religious  teachings,  that  in  after  life  their 
separation  may  be  impossible,  that  one  may  sus- 
tain the  other,  that  both  may  be  cultivated,  and 
cherished,  and  fed  together ;  and  this  is  the  foun- 
dation of  the  exceedingly  comforting  assurance  to 
any  Christian  parent  in  the  hour  of  dissolution* 
"  When  he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it." 

A  SINGLE  fact  sometimes  demonstrates  a  ^eat 
truth. 


296  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

As  long  as  it  is  certain  that  still  water  corrodes 
lead,  the  most  unthinking  person  will  draw  the 
practical  inference,  that  the  water  from  the  hy- 
drant should  be  allowed  to  run  off  for  the  first  five 
or  ten  seconds  after  turning  the  faucet  to  get  a 
supply  for  drinking  or  eating. 

Watermelons  are  the  only  things  we  know  of 
which  can  be  eaten  with  impunity  until  we  cannot 
swallow  any  more.  The  best  time  for  taking  them 
is  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  about 
four  in  the  afternoon.  They  are  not  safe  for  very 
young  children  ;  the  seeds  are  especially  injurious 
to  them. 

In  what  better  condition  could  a  person  be  to 
resist  disease  than  in  perfect  health  ?  But  many 
persons  are  not  satisfied  with  this ;  they  must 
needs  be  teasing  their  stomachs  continually  with 
some  villanous  compound  or  other  to  make  them- 
selves better  than  well.  All  such  should  remem- 
ber the  significant  epitaph  inscribed  (at  his  own 
request)  upon  the  tomb  of  the  Italian  count,  who, 
like  themselves,  experimented  with  his  health 
under  the  apprehension  of  disease : 

"I  was  well; 

Would  be  better; 

Took  physic, 

And  died." 

To  be  truly  hospitable,  make  your  guest  feel 
himself  at  home. 


DR.  hall's  maxima.  297 

It  is  wonderful  how  afraid  consumptive  people 
are  of  fresh  air,  the  very  thing  that  would  cure 
them,  the  only  obstacle  to  a  cure  being  that  they 
do  not  get  enough  of  it;  and  yet  what  infinite 
pains  they  take  to  avoid  breathing  it,  especially  if 
it  is  cold ;  when  it  is  known  that  the  colder  the 
air  is  the  purer  it  must  be,  yet  if  people  cannot 
get  to  a  hot  climate,  they  will  make  an  artificial 
one,  and  imprison  themselves  for  a  whole  winter 
in  a  warm  room,  with  a  temperature  not  varying 
ten  degrees  in  six  months ;  all  such  people  die, 
and  yet  we  follow  in  their  footsteps.  If  I  was 
seriously  ill  of  consumption,  I  would  live  out  of 
doors  day  and  night,  except  it  was  raining  or  mid- 
winter, then  I  would  sleep  in  an  unplastered  log 
house.  My  consumptive  friend,  you  want  air,  not 
physic. 

A  BAD  cold  never  did  nor  ever  can  originate 
consumption.  A  bad  cold  excites  consumption  in 
a  person  whose  lungs  are  already  tuberculated, 
not  otherwise,  certainly;  and  so  green  corn,  or 
cucumbers,  or  cabbages,  or  any  other  food,  what- 
ever  it  may  be,  which  is  not  well  digested  when  it 
passes  into  the  stomach,  will  excite  cholera,  when 
a  person  is  living  in  a  cholera  atmosphere,  and  the 
atmosphere  is  made  "  choleric "  by  its  holding  in 
suspension  some  emanation  which  is  the  product 
of  vegetable  decomposition. 


298  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Would  a  glass  of  wine  hurt  me  ?  This  is  a  ques- 
tion often  proposed  to  me  as  a  physician,  the  patient 
honestly  supposing  that  it  would  strengthen  him. 
My  uniform  reply  is :  Substantial,  reliable  strength 
is  only  to  be  derived  from  the  perfect  digestion  of 
plain,  nutritious  food ;  all  else  is  transient,  ficL:- 
tious,  and  worse  than  useless,  as  it  ultimately,  and 
that  within  a  few  hours,  always  and  inevitably 
makes  them  weaker  than  before.  Better  a  thou- 
sand-fold let  a  man  die  of  ordinary  disease  than 
risk  making  him  a  drunkard  in  restoring  him  to 
health  by  the  use  of  alcohol  in  any  form,  even  if  it 
could  be  done.  The  use  of  stimulating  drinks,  and 
they  are  used  only  because  they  do  stimulate,  is 
wholly  pernicious  to  the  young,  even  when  of  the 
purest  and  best. 

Some  of  the  most  splendid  private  mansions  in 
the  country  are  owned  and  occupied  by  men  who 
made  their  money  by  the  sale  of  patent  medicines. 
Men  of  culture  and  wealth  have  their  families 
attended  by  educated  physicians  of  respectability 
and  known  worth,  and  so  with  the  higher  grades 
of  the  middle  classes.  It  is  upon  the  scanty  earn- 
ings of  the  ignorant  poor  that  patent  medicine 
harpies  thrive  ;  and  but  for  their  delusions  these 
poor  creatures  could  have  medical  advice,  and  med- 
icine too,  without  pay. 

The  perfect  master  of  a  calling  elevates  it. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  299 

The  whole  animal  creation  is  subject  to  disease, 
and  the  fewest  number,  comparatively  speaking, 
die  of  sickness ;  instinct  is  their  only  physician. 

An  educated  and  useful  clergyman,  after  swal- 
lowing a  good-sized  apothecary's  shop,  writes  us, 
that  instead  of  getting  better,  he  is  becoming  more 
of  an  invalid.  The  wonder  is,  that  he  was  not  dead 
long  ago.  As  none  of  these  things  cured  him,  ho 
applied  to  us.  If  this  gentleman  had  ordered  his 
habits  of  life  aright,  he  would  have  been  well  long 
ago ;  but  not  doing  that,  he  has  been  a  sufferer  for 
twelve  long  years.  But  here  is  an  intelligent  man 
stuflSng  himself  with  food  and  physic  for  twelve 
years,  apparently  not  reflecting  that  nothing  would 
cure  a  man  who  ate  three  times  a  day  regularly, 
and  between  meals,  with  a  lunch  at  midnight.  And 
this  is  the  history  of  many  clergymen  whose  use- 
fulness is  curtailed,  if  not  cut  short  off,  and  their 
whole  existence  embittered  by  every  variety  of 
ailment,  merely  for  the  want  of  a  little  knowledge. 
The  man  who  would  circulate  a  thousand  copies 
of  this  little  book  among  the  clergy  of  this  land, 
would  do  a  greater  good  for  humanity  and  the 
church  than  by  erecting  the  costliest  monuments 
to  dead  heroes. 

More  cases  of  throat-ail  are  founded  in  a  torpid 
liver,  or  an  imperfect  digestion,  than  one  physician 
in  a  million  has  any  conception  of. 


300  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Cholera  is  nothing  more  than  exaggerated  diar- 
rhoea. When  a  man  has  died  of  diarrhoea,  he  has 
died  of  cholera,  in  reality.  It  may  be  well  for 
travellers  to  know  that  the  first,  the  most  impor- 
tant, and  the  most  indispensable  item  in  the  arrest 
and  cure  of  looseness  of  the  bowels,  is  absolute 
quietude  on  a  bed ;  Nature  herself  always  prompts 
this  by  disinclining  us  to  locomotion.  The  next 
thing  is,  to  eat  nothing  but  common  rice,  parched 
like  coifee,  and  then  boiled,  and  taken  with  a  little 
salt  and  butter.  Drink  little  or  no  liquid  of  any 
kind.  Bits  of  ice  may  bo  eaten  and  swallowed  at 
will.  Every  step  taken  in  diarrhoea,  every  spoon- 
ful of  liquid,  only  aggravate  the  disease.  If  locomo- 
tion is  compulsory,  the  misfortune  of  the  necessity 
may  be  lessened  by  having  a  stout  piece  of  woollen 
flannel  bound  tightly  round  the  abdomen,  so  as  to 
be  doubled  in  front,  and  kept  well  in  its  place.  In 
the  practice  of  many  years  we  have  never  failed 
to  notice  a  gratifying  result  to  follow  these  ob- 
servances. 

Food  which  is  at  least  as  warm  as  a  hundred 
degrees  of  Fahrenheit  is  more  speedily  and  more 
easily  digested,  and  consequently  must  be  more 
nutritious  and  healthful,  than  any  eaten  colder  than 
that. 

Girls  have  risen  before  now,  from  the  wash-tub 
to  the  throne,  and  elevatod  both. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  301 

Dogs  get  well  of  their  wounds  without  poultices. 
Dogs  were  the  doctors  who  attended  Lazarus ;  and, 
what  is  more  than  can  be  said  of  some  modern  doc- 
tors, thej  treated  him  as  they  did  themselves,  and, 
Uo  doubt,  with  advantage.  Dogs  lick  their  sores. 
It  is  the  instinct  of  nature.  Now  let  us  not  run 
off  in  the  manner  of  the  ignorant  and  superstitious, 
and  imagine  that  there  is  some  mysterious  virtue 
in  a  dog's  tongue,  some  magnetic  agency  passing 
back  and  forth ;  but  let  us  look  with  our  eyes  open, 
and  in  the  light  of  a  few  well-known  facts.  Take  a 
common  boil,  about  which  most  of  us  have  had  a 
feeling  experience ;  the  surrounding  skin  is  dry, 
hot,  and  hard ;  in  its  natural  state  it  is  moist  and 
soft.  To  bring  it  to  its  natural  state  again  we  have 
only  to  remove  the  dryness,  and  reduce  it  to  its 
natural  temperature  ;  and  what  more  appropriate 
than  simple  soft  water,  rained  or  distilled.  But  to 
get  the  full  virtue  of  the  application,  it  should  be 
kept  moist  all  the  time ;  this  would  require  con- 
stant attention,  the  incessant  applying  of  water, 
which  is,  in  a  measure,  impracticable,  except  to 
the  unfortunate  few  who  have  nothing  to  do. 
The  softest  fluid  in  nature  is  the  saliva ;  and  it  is 
in  this  property  we  find  the  virtue  of  the  dog's 
licking. 

How  kindly  wise  is  that  Great  Being  who  made 
all  worlds,  in  adapting  his  creations  to  the  safety  and 
happiness  of  us,  his  children. 


302  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

We  constantly  notice,  at  our  own  table,  that  a 
child  will  be  ravenously  fond  of  a  particular  dish, 
and  after  a  while  turns  from  it.  The  reason  is, 
that  there  was  a  constituent  in  the  much-loved  food 
which  the  system  required,  and  which  it  drank  up 
greedily  until  it  was  fully  supplied,  and  then  instinct 
would  receive  no  more.  A  thirsty  man,  like  the 
arid  soil,  drinks  in  the  water  until  the  one  is  full 
and  the  other  is  saturated,  and  then  the  water  is 
refused  or  rejected. 

Some  men  work  themselves  to  death  ;  some  men 
think  themselves  to  death.  Too  little  rest  for  the 
body,  too  little  sleep  for  the  brain,  are  false  econ- 
omies of  time  ;  and  multitudes,  unwittingly,  bring 
on  wasting  and  fatal  diseases  by  practising  these 
economies.  Omnipotence  "  rested,"  and  commanded 
man  to  do  the  same.  Sleep  a  plenty,  rest  a  plenty 
—  these  are  the  foundations  of  all  great,  safe,  and 
eflScient  activities  of  body  or  brain. 

Moderate,  continuous  bodily  activities  in  the 
open  air,  with  a  mind  intensely  and  pleasurably 
interested  in  some  highly  remunerative  pursuit, 
will  cure  any  case  of  consumption  where  cure  ia 
possible ;  and  if  this  fails,  so  will  all  else. 

We  believe  that  physical  perfection  begets  men- 
tal vigor,  and  that,  in  turn,  by  appropriate  tuitions, 
begets  moral  power,  and  that  this  combination 
makes  the  perfect  man. 


Dft.  hall's  maxims.  303 

Many  girls  and  boys  of  promise,  the  great  hope 
of  life  to  yearning  parents,  are  sacrificed  every 
year  to  the  cupidity  of  sordid,  stupid,  or  reck- 
less school-teachers,  aided  and  abetted  by  the 
contemptible  vanity  of  the  thouglitless  parents 
themselves. 

A  PERSON  of  requisite  energy  may  permanently 
arrest  the  progress  of  consumption  anywhere, 
North,  South,  East,  or  West ;  for  it  is  the  out-door 
bodily  activities,  and  a  wrought-up  mind,  which 
compels  itself  away  from  the  contemplation  of 
bodily  infirmities,  that  replaces  the  hectic  with  the 
hue  of  health,  throwing  physic  to  the  dogs.  How 
long  will  it  take  mankind  to  learn  these  patent 
lessons  ? 

A  BEARD  is  not  given  to  women,  because  every 
woman  ought  to  have  a  home  and  a  husband ;  and  it 
is  her  business  to  stay  there,  and  care  for,  and  make 
things  tidy,  while  be  is  out  and  about,  spending  his 
energies  in  providing  \,je  means  for  his  wife's  com- 
fort and  happiness. 

Some  years  ago,  in  the  dusk  of  a  summer's  even- 
ing, not  a  living  creature  in  the  house  with  us, 
except  the  cook  and  some  crickets,  we  were  trying 
to  think  of  something  funny  to  laugh  at,  and  revive 
our  spirits,  when  the  door  opened,  and  in  came  a 
six-footer,  a  stranger,  with  wit  enough  to  begin  at 
once  and  tell  what  he  wanted. 


304  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Half  of  us  are  slaves.  The  slaves  of  our  cooks, 
and  housemaids,  and  seamstresses,  and  footmen,  and 
nurses,  —  slaves,  too,  to  the  opinion  of  our  neigh- 
bors, and  there  is  no  tyranny  on  earth  like  it,  more 
remorseless,  more  exacting. 

Let  mothers  remember  that  there  in  no  guaran- 
tee against  poverty,  want,  and  abject  destitution  in 
this  nation  for  a  single  generation.  That  not  one 
in  a  hundred  of  all  the  girls  in  this  land  will  escape 
the  necessity  of  sewing,  patching,  cooking,  and 
washing  for  themselves. 

Many  a  young  man  would  have  been  saved  from 
the  halter,  had  he  learned  in  his  father's  house  how 
to  "  make  himself  useful,"  under  all  the  circumstan- 
ces of  life. 

We  love  to  make  people  think;  it  is  only  the 
thoughtful  who  are  of  any  account  in  a  world  like 
this ;  it  is  the  thoughtless,  the  heedless  multitude 
who  heap  want,  and  calamity,  and  disease  on  them- 
selves, and  on  too  many  of  those  with  whom  they  are 
brought  in  frequent  association. 

Taking  so  much  less  exercise  on  Sundays  than  on 
a  week-day,  and  stimulated  to  eat  more  on  that  day 
by  its  superior  excellency,  aided  by  idleness,  there 
is  of  necessity  a  repletion,  an  over-supply  of  food, 
which  will  be  as  certainly  disastrous,  as  the  feeding 
of  a  locomotive  with  more  fuel  while  she  is  stand- 
ing still,  than  when  she  is  going  ahead,  with  her 
long  retinue  of  passengers  and  freight. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  305 

American  girls  think  it  degrading  to  cook,  and 
nurse,  and  wash,  and  wait  on  the  table,  and  their 
more  inexcusable  and  short-sighted  parents  confirm 
them  in  their  views  ;  and  the  next  we  hear  of  them, 
is  "  starvation,"  "  suicide,"  premature  disease,  or  a 
dishonored  grave.  Let  all  these,  especially  those 
who  can  leave  their  families  nothing,  impress  on  the 
minds  of  their  children,  day  by  day,  that  it  is  more 
dishonorable  to  beg  than  to  work  ;  that  it  is  more 
criminal  to  do  nothing  than  to  be  industrious ;  that 
no  employment  is  dishonorable  which  is  useful ;  and 
that  it  is  not  only  a  disgrace  but  a  crime  to  be  idle, 
from  feelings  of  a  despicable  false  pride. 

OuB  experience  and  observation  convince  us  that 
nine  men  out  of  ten  will  pay  in  experiments  for 
regaining  health  a  thousand  dollars  more  cheerfully 
than  they  would  pay  one  for  information,  which,  if 
acted  upon,  would  certainly  preserve  it,  and  fortu- 
nate it  is  for  us  doctors  that  the  masses  are  such 
numskulls,  else  we  would  find  our  occupation 
gone. 

Scientific  men  have  forced  on  the  common  mind, 
by  slow  degrees,  the  importance  of  a  daily  ventila- 
tion of  our  sleeping  apartments,  so  that  now  none 
but  the  careless  or  most  obtuse  neglect  it ;  but  few 
think  of  ventilating  their  cellars,  although  it  is 
apparent  that  the  noisome  dampness  is  constantly 
rising  upwards  and  pervading  the  whole  dwelling. 
20 


$06  Dtt.   HALLOS  MASMS. 

We  know  of  no  better,  safer,  simpler,  more  acces. 
Bible  poultice,  for  most  purposes,  than  one  made  of 
stale,  light  bread  and  sweet  milk.  Its  superiority 
lies  in  its  being  always  at  hand,  and  in  its  keeping 
moist  longer,  and  being  more  readily  re-moistened, 
than  others. 

Emanations  from  cellars  do  not  kill  in  a  night,  if 
they  did,  universal  attention  would  be  forced  to 
their  proper  management ;  but  it  is  certain,  from  the 
very  nature  of  things,  that  unclean,  damp,  and 
mouldy  cellars,  with  their  sepulchral  fumes,  do 
undermine  the  health  of  multitudes  of  families, 
and  send  many  of  their  members  to  an  untimely 
grave. 

Hair-dyes  for  whiskers  have  become  very  com- 
mon of  late  years ;  they  have  to  be  repeated  once  a 
month ;  their  more  immediate  effect  is  to  impart  a 
dead,  black  color,  which  at  once  reveals  the  hypoc- 
risy, and  that  it  should  so  disturb  the  natural  func- 
tions of  the  skin,  by  such  frequent  application,  as 
to  lay  the  foundation  for  callosities,  cancers,  and 
other  affections,  is  at  least  to  be  apprehended. 
The  employment  of  such  cheateries  is  altogether 
incompatible  with  that  feeling  of  independence 
and  self-respect  which  characterizes  an  educated 
gentleman. 

Temperance  and  virtue  are  among  the  greatest 
panaceas  yet  discovered. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  307 

Honor  and  profit  everywheie,  say  we,  be  to  the 
men  who  show  their  light,  that  the  toiHng  sailor  at 
sea,  in  the  midnight  storms  of  human  life,  may  see 
its  beaming,  take  courage,  and  strike  afresh  for  the 
haven  of  rest  and  of  home. 

Blessed  is  that  Providence  wliich  seldom  sends  a 
single  trouble !  It  is  fatherly  beneficence  which 
often  orders  another,  to  tear  the  heart  away  from 
dwelling  on  the  one  great  calamity.  It  is  single 
troubles  which  craze  men.  It  is  not  the  general 
student  whose  mind  becomes  unbalanced.  It  is  not 
the  man  who  has  a  great  many  irons  in  the  fire  at  a 
time ;  it  is  not  the  worker  who  has  more  business 
than  he  can  attend  to :  it  is  the  man  who  has  leisure 
to  do  nothing,  it  is  the  man  wlio  nurses  the  one 
thought  wholly,  who  makes  shipwreck  of  the  im- 
mortal part. 

Let  aJl  parents,  let  all  who  are  about  to  be  mar- 
ried, let  all  the  married,  remember  that  the  inculca- 
tion, the  practice  of  self  control,  is  the  keystone 
of  practical  religion,  it  is  the  panacea  fbr  domestic 
disquietude,  the  entrance-door  of  a  heaven  on  earth, 
and  a  brighter  heaven  in  the  skies. 

Let  us  resolve,  one  and  all,  as  we  must "  live  for 
ages,"  for  good  or  for  ill,  that  we  will  live  to  elevate 
and  bless  humanity,  by  being  truthful  in  every  lino 
we  write,  in  every  sentiment  we  utter. 

HoDSiNG-UP  will  kill  any  invalid. 


308  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Buckwheat  cakes  and  molasses  make  a  favorite 
dish  for  multitudes  in  winter  time.  Why  not  in 
summer  also  ?  We  need  in  winter  the  food  which 
contains  most  carbon ;  that  is,  the  heat-producing 
principle,  something  which  will  keep  up  the  inter- 
nal fires  to  compensate  for  the  external  cold. 
Meats,  everything  containing  fat,  are  largely  made 
of  carbon,  hence  we  instinctively  eat  heartily  of 
meats  in  winter,  but  have  small  appetite  for  them 
in  summer.  The  same  instinct  receives  greedily 
the  buckwheat  cakes  in  winter,  and  turns  from 
them  in  summer,  while  other  forms  of  bread  mate- 
rials, meal  and  flour,  are  desired  all  the  year.  It 
is  because  buckwheat  cakes  are  superior  to  bread 
as  to  fatty  matter,  while  the  syrup  and  butter 
used  with  them  are  almost  entirely  of  carbon.  So 
that  there  is  nothing  more  suitable  for  a  winter 
morning's  breakfast  than  buckwheat  cakes  and 
molasses. 

The  simple  fact  that  any  given  item  of  food  is 
not  good  for  one  man,  does  not  "  set  well  "  on  the 
stomach,  is  no  proof  that  it  is  not  positively  ben- 
eficial to  others  ;  it  is  simply  a  proof  that  it  is  not 
good  for  him.  This  is  a  practical  thought  of  con- 
siderable importance. 

The  change  from  a  life  of  bodily  labor  to  one 
that  is  sedentary,  is  always  attended  with  danger, 
ftod  is  seldom  made  with  impunity. 


DB.  hall's  MAXTMfl.  309 

If  a  fire  is  kindled  in  every  dwelling  at  sun- 
down and  sun-rise,  and  the  family  sit  in  the  same 
room  until  bedtime,  with  all  outer  doors  and  win- 
dows closed,  and  kept  closed  during  the  night,  all 
autumnal  diseases,  as  epidemics,  would  become 
impossible  of  occurrence,  because  it  would  be 
contrary  to  physical  law.  A  large  lump  of  ice 
suspended  in  a  sleeper's  room,  so  as  to  keep  the 
air  at  the  level  of  his  breathing,  at  seventy-five 
degrees,  would  be  equally  efiective  in  this  regard, 
because  miasm  cannot  be  held  in  solution  in  an 
atmosphere  of  that  temperature.  It  would,  as  it 
were,  be  precipitated  to  the  floor  of  the  room,  as 
we  know  carbonic  acid  gas  is  thrown  to  the  floor 
by  a  certain  degree  of  cold.  It  is  greatly  to  be 
regretted  that  these  things  are  not  more  thorough, 
ly  known  among  physicians,  as  well  as  the  people, 
for  practical  and  rational  attention  to  them  would 
avert  an  incalculable  amount  of  human  suffering. 

Men  may  live  long  in  spite  of  some  pernicious 
habit,  but  without  it  they  would  have  lived  longer. 
Incorrect  reasonings  in  this  regard  have  often 
ruined  health  and  shortened  life,  and  will,  in  mul- 
titudes of  instances,  do  it  again. 

Nine  times  out  of  ten  the  best  answer  which  a 
physician  can  give  to  the  patient,  who,  with  direft^ 
look  and  dolorous  tone,  inquires.  What  shall  I  do? 
is,  Go  to  work. 


310  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Op  the  in-door  occupations,  some  of  the  most 
trying  to  the  human  constitution  are  working  in 
cotton,  hemp,  paints,  dyeing,  furs,  tobacco,  lucifer 
matches,  manufacturers'  trimmings,  and  the  like, 
involving  the  filling  of  the  air  with  minute  parti- 
cles. Blondes,  that  is,  persons  with  light  hair, 
fair  skin,  and  blue  eyes,  as  also  those  having  sandy 
or  reddish  hair,  should,  by  all  means,  select  some 
active,  out-door  vocation.  Brunettes,  persons  hav- 
ing a  dark  skin,  indicating  the  bilious  tempera- 
ment, accompanied  usually  with  black  hair  and 
dark  eyes,  should  select  a  calling  which,  whether 
in-door  or  out,  will  require  them  to  be  on  their 
feet,  moving  about  nearly  all  the  time,  in  order  to 
"  work  olF  "  the  constantly  accumulating  bile.  The 
mixed  temperaments  can  best  bear  sedentary  in- 
door occupation,  such  as  a  combination  of  the 
bilious  and  nervous.  Spare  persons,  not  having 
much  flesh,  but  enough  of  the  nervous  and  san- 
guine temperament  to  give  them  a  wiriness  of 
constitution,  these  can  bear  in-door  occupations 
best ;  their  activity  arising  from  the  nervous  tem- 
perament keeping  them  in  motion  (the  tongue,  any 
how,  if  women),  while  their  hopefulness,  arising 
from  the  sanguine  temperament,  keeps  up  their 
spirits,  which  is  an  element  as  essential  to  success 
as  it  is  to  health. 

Persons  with  weak  eyes  should  not  read,  or  write, 
or  do  fine  sewing,  on  an  empty  stomach. 


DB.   hall's  maxims.  Sll 

Let  every  dish  be  composed  of  a  single  article 
of  food ;  if  it  be  of  potatoes,  let  it  be  of  potatoes, 
and  nothing  else  ;  let  rice  be  rice,  and  soup  soup ; 
let  every  meat  be  fresh ;  let  every  vegetable  be 
perfect,  ripe,  recent;  let  everything  of  the  fish 
kind,  especially  in  summer,  be  seen  "  a  kicking  " 
within  the  half  hour  of  cooking;  and  let  three 
articles  of  food,  at  any  one  meal,  be  the  largest 
allowable  variety  ;  for  it  is  variety  of  food  at  each 
meal  which  is  the  great  tempter  to  excess  in  quan- 
tity ;  the  great  founder  of  that  dyspepsia  which  is 
the  torment,  greater  or  less,  of  half  the  people  of 
any  civilized  nation.  It  will  be  a  difficult  matter 
for  any  person  in  ordinary  good  health  to  eat  too 
much  at  a  single  meal  made  of  two  or  three  arti 
cles  of  food.     It  is  worth  trying. 

Observant  persons  know  very  well  that  the  way 
to  make  a  man  of  anybody  is  to  make  him  help 
himself;  and  that  the  inability  to  do  that  oftener 
arises  from  the  indisposition  to  do  so,  than  from 
the  impossibility  of  doing  it.  Show  a  man  how, 
make  him  feel  that  he  ought  to  take  care  of  him- 
self, and  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten  he  will  go 
and  do  it. 

The  bestowal  of  five  dollars  on  a  sick  pauper 
may  infuse  a  health-giving  hope,  and  waken  him 
up  to  a  new  life,  but  it  would  have  no  such  effect 
on  a  siok  prince. 


312  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

By  far  the  most  frequent  causes  of  disease  are 
found  in  the  food  we  eat  and  in  the  air  we  breathe, 
the  rectification  of  both  of  which  is  within  our 
own  power  ;  requiring  only  a  moderate  amount  of 
intelhgence,  but  a  largo  share  of  moral  power,  that 
is,  a  resolute  self-denial.  It  thus  follows  that  death, 
short  of  old  age,  is  chargeable  to  man  himself; 
that  in  an  important  sense,  the  great  mass  of  those 
who  die  short  of  threescore  years  and  ten  are  the 
authors  of  their  own  destruction.  And  each  should 
inquire,  "  To  what  extent  am  I  chargeable  with  my 
own  ailments  ?  " 

The  most  elevated  and  refined  of  cities  use 
various  kinds  of  wines,  and  too  often  recommend 
their  children  to  do  the  same,  to  end  in  drinking 
vulgar  gin,  or  in  secretly  chewing  opium. 

In  all  cases  of  old  sores,  apply  to  a  physician  of 
age  and  experience.  If  that  is  not  practicable, 
the  safest  and  best  plan  is,  first  to  diminish  the 
amount  of  food  eaten  each  day,  one  half,  and  keep 
the  parts  in  a  cleanly  condition,  by  washing  them 
twice  a  day  in  soft,  milk-warm  water,  until  relief 
is  given. 

Giving  degrades.  Helping  encourages  and  ele- 
vates. The  truest  charity  is  to  help  the  helpless 
to  help  themselves.  This  it  is  that  makes  men  of 
them,  instead  of  encouraging  them  into  whining 
beggary. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  *    313 

Let  us  all  turn  our  attention  in  upon  ouraelves, 
and  cultivate  a  deep  and  an  abiding  gratitude  to 
the  Giver  of  all  good,  in  that  we  and  ours  have 
been  born  perfect  in  limb,  and  form,  and  feature; 
our  bodies  without  a  blemish^  '^ur  minds  without  a 
blot,  and,  further,  that  these  things  have  been  con- 
tinued to  us  for  the  period  of  a  lifetime,  and  that 
we  have  had  given  to  us  all  things  richly  to  enjoy, 
by  a  beneficence  as  ceaseless  as  tlie  flow  of  time, 
and  as  boundless  as  the  universe. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many  young  men, 
who  might  have  lived  to  high  distinction,  have  lost 
health  and  life  itself,  from  want  of  timely  and  judi- 
cious advice,  as  to  their  habits  of  life,  being  de- 
terred from  seeking  that  advice  from  their  inability 
to  pay  for  it.  We  believe  a  valuable  substitute 
may  be  found  in  this  book,  in  which  we  mainly 
strive  to  show  how  ordinary  ailments  may  be  cured 
by  natural  and  inexpensive  agencies. 

It  is  through  a  report  of  "disease  of  the  heart" 
that  many  an  opium-eater  is  let  oflF  into  the  grave, 
which  covers  at  once  his  folly  and  his  crime ;  the 
brandy-drinker,  too,  quietly  slides  round  the  corner 
thus,  and  is  heard  of  no  more ;  in  siiort,  this  "  re- 
port"  of  "disease  of  the  heart"  is  the  mantle  of 
charity,  which  the  politic  coroner  and  the  sympa- 
thetic physician  throw  around  the  grave  of  "  gen- 
teel people." 


314  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Lazy  people  eat  more  than  the  busy,  at  least  for 
a  while,  because  it  affords  them  enjoyment ;  it  is  a 
standing  source  of  gratification,  until  they  become 
dyspeptic,  when  every  meal  becomes  more  or  less 
a  torture.  But  want  of  occupation  has  its  attend- 
ant moral  evils  as  well  as  physical.  Idlers  are 
nervous,  fretful,  peevish,  cross.  Ill-nature  be- 
comes a  second  nature,  and  they  grumble,  and 
complain,  and  whine,  from  morning  until  night, 
with  chance  intervals  of  sunshine,  but  ever  so 
transient. 

We  know  that  persons  are  born  with  the  physi- 
cal characteristics  of  their  parents  —  born  with 
their  parents'  diseases.  Napoleon's  mental  nature 
was  impregnated  from  his  mother  before  his  birth, 
when  she  rode  by  her  warrior  husband,  at  the 
head  of  armed  bands,  for  days,  and  weeks,  and 
months  together;  while  at  the  same  time  he  inher- 
ited the  disease  of  his  father,  and  likewise  perished 
with  it.  It  is  notorious  that  three  fourths  of  the 
idiotic  are  born  of  parents,  one  or  both  of  whom 
are  drunken ;  shadowing  the  state  of  mind  of  the 
parent  bestial,  stupid,  low,  at  the  instant  of  con 
ception,  as  the  mould  in  which  the  child  is  cast, 
Some  practical  use  may  be  made  of  these  things 
but  not,  we  presume,  until  the  human  mind  be 
comes  more  generally,  more  thoroughly,  more  su 
premely  religious,  from  principle,  high,  uniform 
abiding. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  315 

Op  all  human  occupations  which  do  not  render  a 
man  amenable  to  the  laws  of  his  country,  the  most 
universally  and  invariably  destructive  to  the  health 
of  the  body,  as  well  as  that  of  the  mind  and  heart, 
and  yet  coveted  by  many,  although  it  is  the  hard- 
est work  in  the  world,  is  that  of  having  nothing 
to  do. 

"  A  DYiNO  man  can  do  nothing  easy,"  were  the 
last  words  of  the  immortal  Franklin.  A  diseased 
man  can  do  nothing  well,  are  words  of  our  own, 
and  quite  as  true. 

Make  a  child  good,  and  you  give  good  assurance 
against  idleness,  beggary,  and  wasting  disease. 
Teach  a  child  to  be  clean,  to  be  truthful,  to  hate 
all  wrong-doing,  to  be  industrious  and  saving,  and 
with  a  thorough  education  in  "  reading,  writing, 
and  arithmetic,"  you  make  him  rich  beyond  tie 
inheritance  of  paternal  millions. 

The  most  destructive  typhoid  and  putrid  fevers 
are  known  to  arise  directly  from  a  number  zf  per- 
sons living  in  the  same  small  room. 

It  is  the  nature  of  still  air  to  become  impure. 
Running  water  purifies  itself  Air  in  motion, 
draughts  of  air,  are  self-purifierc?.  Thus  it  is  that 
the  air  of  a  close  room  becomes  impure  inevitably. 
Thus  it  is  that  close  rooms  bring  consumption  to 
countless  thousands. 


316  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Many  an  excellent  clergyman  Las  lost  his  voice, 
and  eventually  his  life,  by  preaching  in  a  cold, 
damp,  and  close  church ;  and  multitudes  of  people 
have  been  made  invalids  for  months  and  years,  and 
have  prematurely  died,  from  sitting  in  churches 
insufficiently  warmed  in  winter  time.  The  atmos* 
phere  of  any  building  closed  for  six  days  in  the 
week  becomes  unfit  for  respiration  in  summer  as 
well  as  winter  by  reason  of  its  damp,  heavy  close- 
ness. It  requires  several  days  for  the  cold  and 
damp  to  get  into  a  closed  house,  and  a  much  longer 
time  for  it  to  get  out.  Hence,  after  several  days 
of  very  severe  weather,  it  may  be  sultry,  even 
uncomfortably  warm  in  riding,  walking,  or  any 
other  slight  effort,  and  no  fire  is  deemed  necessary ; 
on  the  contrary,  the  air  of  the  church  seems,  on 
first  entering,  to  be  refreshingly  cool,  but  has, 
nevertheless,  sowed  the  seeds  of  untimely  death 
in  multitudes ;  for,  remaining  still  for  a  couple  of 
hours,  the  body  becomes  chilled  through  and 
through,  to  be  followed  by  fever,  pleurisy,  inflam- 
mation of  the  lungs,  or  other  dangerous  forms  of 
disease. 

Broken  bones  may  be  prevented  in  icy  weather 
by  taking  steps  short  and  slow,  but  fast  and  long, 
in  all  weathers,  in  a  direction  from  a  mad  bull. 

A  TRUE  man  is  never  discouraged  except  by  a 
demonstrable  impossibility. 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  317 

Had  we  the  peopling  of  a  world  like  this,  with 
present  views  of  human  nature  and  human  need, 
we  would  turn  every  son  and  daughter  into  the 
great  harvest  field  of  life  without  a  shirt  to  the  back 
or  an  implement  to  the  hand.  The  necessity  for 
"  device  "  has  been  the  material  salvation  of  the 
human  family.  No  children  are  so  utterly  worth- 
less as  those  who  never  knew  an  obstacle  between 
an  expressed  desire  and  its  gratification.  No  child 
is  so  irretrievably  ruined  as  the  one  whose  parent 
is  its  slave.  Let  every  one  enter  the  world  with 
an  income,  and  it  would,  under  the  present  consti- 
tution of  things,  become,  within  a  century,  a  world 
of  idleness,  gluttony,  and  havoc-making  disease ; 
so  that  while  it  is  true  that,  in  one  sense  of  the 
word,  "  the  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  pov- 
erty," it  is,  in  another  sense,  not  less  demonstrable, 
that  poverty  is  the  material  safety  of  the  race  — 
as  witness  the  brightest,  highest  names  in  history, 
ancient  or  modern.  Poverty  has  been  the  main 
stimulus  in  almost  all  sublime  lives. 

Reader,  go  this  minute  and  do  some  good  deed 
to  somebody,  for  you  may  die  to-morrow ;  and  if  you 
do  not  die  to-morrow,  "  repeat  the  prescription  " 
every  day  until  you  do. 

It  is  an  absurdity  to  purchase  wood  by  measure 
Its  heat-producing  qualities  are  in  proportion  to  its 
weight,  if  seasoned. 


318  OB.  hall's  maxims. 

As  far  as  health  and  disease  are  concerned,  we 
have  instructive  examples  of  the  practical  failure 
of  fanaticism  in  the  lives  of  Graham  and  -AJcott. 
As  citizens,  as  far  as  we  know,  they  were  good 
men,  honest,  well-meaning,  benevolent,  and  hu- 
mane ;  but  when  we  look  for  the  practical  good 
effect  of  their  theories,  as  exhibited  in  their  own 
persons,  and  we  may  well  suppose  under  the  very 
highest  advantages  of  correct,  intelligent,  and 
thorough  application,  there  is  confessedly  a  sad 
failure.  Graham,  who  gave  name  to  the  famous 
"  Graham  bread,"  died  at  the  age  of  fifty,  and 
Alcott  only  completed  his  threescore  years ;  both 
of  them  frittered  away  their  lives  in  attempting  to 
foist  their  crude  notions  upon  public  acceptance, 
with  loud  assurances  of  a  serene  and  healthful  old 
age.  They  exhibited  great  goodness  of  heart  in 
their  self-denials,  and  their  severe  sacrifices,  in  at- 
tempting to  prove  the  truth  of  their  vagaries ;  but 
this  does  not  sanctify  their  own  destruction,  and 
the  destruction  of  multitudes  of  weaker-minded 
persons  who  took  hold  of  their  half  facts  and  ran 
them  into  the  ground,  to  their  own  undoing.  Their 
sincerity,  their  honest  belief  in  the  truth  of  their 
theories,  did  not  extend  their  own  lives  to  an  en- 
couraging limit ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is 
reason  to  suppose  they  shortened  them  by  their  ill- 
advised  experiments.  Alcott  drank  no  water  for 
a  whole  year,  and  lived  many  years  on  fruits  and 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  319 

vegetables,  never  tasting  meat,  or  milk,  or  butter, 
or  yeasted  bread,  only  to  die  at  a  time  when  both 
body  and  mind  ought  to  have  been  in  their  highest 
prime.  Let  these  melancholy  results  learn  us  who 
still  live,  the  true  wisdom  of  avoiding  extremes, 
remembering  that  a  kind  Providence  has  given  us 
aU  things  richly  to  enjoy,  only  enjoining  to  be  teui- 
perate  in  the  use  of  them,  and  in  this  is  enduring 
health,  an  effective  life,  a  serene  and  happy  old  age. 

Did  any  man  ever  know  a  farmer  who  was  not  an 
habitual  grumbler,  who  was  not  always  ready  with 
a  too  dry  or  too  wet,  too  backward  or  too  forward, 
too  hot  or  too  cold  ?  We  ourselves  have  known 
some,  not  many,  who  were  habitually  and  humbly 
thankful  for  whatever  kind  of  weather  a  kind  Prov- 
idence thought  proper  to  send. 

The  sleep  of  the  overworked,  like  that  of  those 
who  do  not  work  at  all,  is  unsatisfying  and  unre- 
freshing,  and  both  alike,  wake  up  in  weariness, 
sadness,  and  languor,  with  an  inevitable  result, 
both  dying  prematurely. 

A  TEASPOONFUL  of  Cayenne  pepper  given  to  a 
^  dozen  hens  with  their  food,  every  other  day,  win- 
ter and  summer,  will  nearly  double  the  daily  yield 
of  eggs.  This  same  capsicum,  at  meals,  is  far  bet- 
ter for  the  human  stomach  than  brandy,  better  for 
the  debilitated  than  any  "  tonic,"  drops,  or  bitters 
ever  swallowed. 


S20  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Some  people  set  out  to  starve  themselves  into 
health,  until  the  system  is  reduced  so  low  that  it 
has  no  power  of  resuscitation,  and  then  die.  To 
diet  wisely,  does  not  imply  a  total  abstinence  from 
all  food,  but  the  taking  of  just  enough,  or  of  a  qual- 
ity adapted  to  the  nature  of  the  case.  Loose  bow- 
els weaken  very  rapidly  ;  total  abstinence  from  all 
food  increases  the  debility.  In  this  case  food 
should  be  taken,  which,  while  it  tends  to  arrest 
the  disease,  imparts  nutriment  and  strength  to 
the  system.  Rest  on  a  bed,  and  eating  boiled  rice, 
after  it  has  been  parched  like  coffee,  will  cure 
three  cases  out  of  four  of  common  diarrhoea  in  a 
day  or  two.  Others  think  that,  in  order  to  diet 
effectually,  it  is  all-important  to  do  without  meat, 
but  allow  themselves  the  widest  liberty  im  all  else. 
But  in  many  cases,  in  dyspeptic  conditions  of  the 
system  particularly, the  course  ought  to  be  reversed, 
because  meat  is  converted  into  nutriment  with  the 
expenditure  of  less  stomach  power  than  vegeta- 
bles, while  a  given  amount  of  work  does  three 
times  as  much  good,  gives  three  times  as  much 
nutriment  and  strength  as  vegetable  food  would. 

HuBRY  from  your  bed-chamber  the  instant  of 
rising;  hoist  the  windows  of  your  sitting  apart- 
ments, fling  wide  open  your  doors  divers  times 
daily,  even  in  the  coldest  weather,  and  let  out  the 
death,  instead  of  drawing  it  into  your  own  system 
to  fester,  and  corrupt,  and  rot  you. 


DE.  hall's  maxims.  321 

We  ought  to  study  how  to  keep  well,  if  we  are 
80  already ;  how  to  regain  health,  if  we  have  lost 
it,  —  as  a  means  of  enjoying  that  religion  to  the 
full  whose  end  and  aim  is  an  immortality  of  bliss. 

The  heart  has  two  suits  of  rooms  —  one  filled 
with  impure  blood,  going  to  the  lungs  to  be  puri- 
fied, the  other  containing  the  purest  blood  of  the 
body,  which,  having  undergone  purification  and 
perfection  in  the  lungs,  has  been  returned  to  this 
other  side  of  the  heart",  to  be  propelled  therefrom 
to  the  most  distant  portions  of  the  human  frame, 
imparting,  in  its  progress,  renovation,  restoration, 
and  life.  The  right  side  of  the  heart  contains  the  im- 
pure, imperfect  blood,  while  the  pure  blood  is  found 
in  the  left.  But  it  cannot  get  from  the  right  side 
into  the  left  without  passing  through  an  out-house, 
the  lungs,  where  the  purifying  process  is  carried  on. 

Our  children  sit,  and  eat,  and  sleep,  and  study 
too  generally  in  apartments  that  seem  to  have  been 
constructed  studiously  to  prevent  the  admission  of 
pure  air.  Our  assembly-rooms,  school-houses,  and 
churches  are  generally  built  without  any  reference 
to  a  free  circulation  of  fresh  air.  It  is  my  solemn 
conviction,  from  long  observation,  that  many  chil- 
dren are  made  dwarfs,  or  live  pale,  emaciated,  ner- 
vous, consumptive  specimens  of  humanity,  and  then 
die  before  their  time,  from  the  wemt  of  pure  air 
more  than  from  any  other  cause. 
21 


322  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

How  strongly  the  appetite  yearns  for  a  pickle, 
when  nothing  else  could  be  relished,  is  in  the  ex- 
perience of  most  of  us.  It  is  the  instinct  of  nature 
pointing  to  a  cure. 

The  breathing  of  a  vitiated  atmosphere,  whether 
in  close  and  small  rooms,  or  large  and  close  bed- 
rooms, or  in  family  rooms  over  cellars  without  ceil- 
ings, whose  noisome  odors  rise  incessantly,  day  and 
night,  to  the  upper  portions  of  the  buildings,  —  the 
fumes  from  decayed  vegetables,  barrels  and  boxes, 
sodden  with  dampness,  which  have  not  seen  the 
light  of  the  sun  for  years,  saying  nothing  of  old 
bones,  rags,  brooms,  and  various  other  things  for 
which  the  cellar  is  used  as  a  common  receptacle ; 
or  whether  these  miasms  and  malarias  are  gen- 
erated in  dirty  back  yards,  or  piles  of  sweepings 
heaped  up  under  stairs,  or  in  closets,  or  dark  cor- 
ners, or  from  livery-stables,  or  cow-houses,  or  pig- 
pens, or  butcher  stalls,  or  vegetable  markets,  —  by 
an  immutable  law  of  nature  bring  injury  to  the  sys- 
tem with  the  same  certainty  that  gravity  will  aflFect 
a  projected  feather,  or  cannon  ball,  or  mountain. 
These  are  truths  which  every  person  should  know 
for  himself,  and  should  teach  to  his  children  from 
their  earliest  years,  for  it  is  only  by  the  diffusion 
and  practice  of  knowledge  like  this  that  we  can 
ever  hope  to  see  a  healthy  offspring,  and  to  enjoy, 
not  only  with  impunity,  but  with  advantage,  all 
that  is  meant  by  the  term  modern  conveniences. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  323 

Bt  an  arrangement  of  Providence,  as  beautiful 
as  it  is  benign,  the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  ripening 
during  the  whole  summer.  From  the  delightful 
strawberry  on  the  opening  of  spring,  to  the  lus- 
cious peach  of  the  fall,  there  is  a  constant  succes- 
sion of  delightful  aliments  —  made  delightful  by 
that  Power  whose  loving-kindness  is  in  all  his 
works,  in  order  to  stimulate  us  to  their  highest 
cultivation,  connecting  with  their  use,  also,  the 
most  health-giving  influences ;  and  with  the  rich 
profuseness  of  a  well-attended  fruitery,  it  is  one 
of  the  most  unaccountable  things  in  nature  that  so 
little  attention  is  paid,  comparatively  speaking,  to 
this  branch  of  farming. 

The  teeth  should  not  be  washed  in  cold  water, 
especially  after  eating,  because  the  contrast  be- 
tween it  and  warm  or  hot  food  is  too  striking,  and 
chills  them. 

The  reckless  take  wine,  or  brandy,  or  vulgar 
beer ;  the  conscientious  do  worse,  and  take  physic, 
calling  it  "  bitters,"  tansy,  dogwood,  quinine,  and 
such  "  simple  things,"  especially  the  quinine,  which 
has  helped  to  invalid  and  kill  more  people  than 
would  make  a  monument  sky  high. 

The  outrages  and  stupidities  practised  in  modern 
education  are  not  amazing,  for  a  sensible  man  is 
prepared  for  anything,  and  has  no  amazement ;  but 
they  are  mischievous  in  the  extreme. 


324  DR.   HALL'S  MAXIMS. 

To  be  true,  only  with  the  help  of  a  quibble,  haa 
always  and  everywhere  our  most  unmitigated  con 
tempt.  Oar  definition  of  a  lie  is,  An  attempt  to 
make  a  false  impression.  Whether  successful  or 
not,  the  crime  is  the  same.  Whether  that  false 
impression  is  made  by  word,  or  mark,  or  sign,  or 
shrug,  or  look,  or  false  coloring,  whether  by  the 
omission  or  addition  of  a  single  jot  or  tittle,  or 
word,  or  fact,  the  infamy  is  the  same.  These  be- 
ing our  sentiments,  we  have  never  undergone  the 
humiliation  of  a  retraction  or  apology  for  the 
defamation  of  any  human  creature,  and  that  we 
have  never  been  called  to  such  a  trial,  and  that  no 
human  heart  has  thus  ever  been  wounded  by  us,  is 
one  of  the  sweetest  thoughts  of  our  existence. 
We  are  thankful  to  be  able  to  feel  that  we  have 
no  private  malice  to  gratify. 

Op  all  the  parts  of  corned  beef,  that  is  the  most 
nutritious  and  cheapest  which  is  called  "  the  round," 
which  has  neither  bone  nor  gristle,  nor  waste  fat 
worth  naming. 

Both  in  the  purchase  of  meat  and  fish,  persons 
are  generally  falsely  economical  in  choosing  an 
article  with  bone  in  it,  at  two,  or  three,  or  more 
cents  a  pound  less  than  a  piece  which  has  none. 

Miasm  and  malaria  are  the  great  death  agents 
throughout  the  largest  portion  of  the  habitable 
globe. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  325 

Eating  a  hearty  meal  at  the  close  of  the  day,  is 
like  giving  a  laboring  man  a  full  day's  work  to  do, 
just  as  night  sets  in,  although  he  has  been  toiling 
all  day.  The  whole  body  is  fatigued  when  night 
comes,  the  stomach  takes  its  due  share,  and  to  eat 
heartily  at  supper,  and  then  go  to  bed,  is  giving 
all  the  other  portions  and  functions  of  the  body  re- 
pose, while  the  stomach  has  thrown  upon  it  five 
hours  more  of  additional  labor,  after  having  already 
worked  four  or  five  hours  to  dispose  of  breakfast, 
and  a  still  longer  time  for  dinner.  This  ten  or 
twelve  hours  of  almost  incessant  labor  has  nearly 
exhausted  its  power;  it  cannot  promptly  digest 
another  full  meal,  but  labors  at  it  for  long  hours  to- 
gether-, like  an  exhausted  galley-slave  at  a  newly- 
imposed  task.  The  result  is,  that  by  the  unnatu- 
ral length  of  time  in  which  the  food  is  kept  in  the 
stomach,  and  the  imperfect  manner  in  which  the 
exhausted  organ  manages  it,  it  becomes  more  or 
less  acid ;  this  generates  wind ;  this  distends  the 
stomach ;  this  presses  itself  up  against  the  more 
yielding  lungs,  confining  them  to  a  largely  dimin- 
ished space ;  hence,  every  breath  taken  is  insuflS- 
cient  for  the  wants  of  the  system,  the  blood  be- 
comes foul,  black,  and  thick,  refuses  to  flow,  and 
the  man  dies. 

The  hardest  toil  of  all,  for  daily  bread,  is  the  toil 
of  the  brain 


326  DR.   hall's  MAXIM8. 

One  of  the  most  important  items  in  the  pages  of 
this  book  is,  Whenever  the  hour  of  bowel  action 
has  passed  by  without  its  occurrence,  do  not  swal- 
low an  atom  of  food  until  it  takes  place.  This 
alone  would  remove  the  cause  of  half  our  diseases. 

There  is  more  sound  practical  hygiene  on  the 
subject  of  healthy  houses  in  the  fourteenth  chapter 
of  Leviticus,  from  verse  thirty-four,  than  in  all  the 
skulls  of  all  the  health  commissioners  and  common 
councils  of  all  the  cities  of  Christendom.  Pity  it 
is  that  we  do  not  read  our  Bible  more  —  that  great 
book,  which  contains  the  leading  principles  of  what 
is  indisputably  good  and  useful. 

Any  educated  physician,  of  even  moderate  ob- 
servation and  study,  knows  there  is  no  medicine 
on  the  face  of  the  earth  which  will  prevent  the 
spread  of  any  epidemic.  More :  any  medicine  given 
steadily  during  an  epidemic  has  a  natural  tendency 
to  act  as  a  cause  of  the  disease,  and  any  person 
taking  it  will  be  more  liable  to  the  disease  than  if 
they  did  not  take  it  at  all. 

The  conceit  of  a  fool  is  as  amazing  as  the  cow- 
ardice of  a  braggadocio. 

The  real  cause  of  disease  and  premature  death 
to  multitudes  in  large  cities,  in  winter  time,  is  not 
the  want  of  money  (for,  if  furnished,  it  would  be 
improvidently  expended,  in  nine  cases  out  of  ten), 
but  it  is  the  want  of  food  and  warmth. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  327 

In  winter  railroading,  the  feet  require  most  at- 
tention. The  floor  of  the  car  is  the  coldest  part 
of  it,  under  any  circumstances,  while  a  single  plank 
separates  them  from  a  zero  temperature,  it  may  be. 
Persons  will  greatly  consult  their  comfort  by  keep- 
ing their  feet  on  the  foot-boards,  and  in  addition, 
have  the  feet  and  legs  well  wrapped  in  a  substan- 
tial blanket  or  other  covering.  It  is  vastly  better 
to  shawl  the  feet  than  the  shoulders  in  a  rail  car. 

The  time  taken  from  seven  or  eight  hours'  sleep 
out  of  twenty-four  is  time  not  gained,  but  time 
more  than  lost ;  we  can  cheat  ourselves,  we  cannot 
cheat  Nature.  A  certain  amount  of  food  is  neces- 
sary to  a  healthful  body,  and  if  less  than  that  amount 
be  furnished,  decay  commences  the  very  hour.  It 
is  the  same  with  sleep ;  and  any  one  who  persists 
in  allowing  himself  less  than  Nature  requires,  will 
only  hasten  his  arrival  at  the  mad-house  or  the 
grave. 

The  healthiest  of  all  callings,  and  which,  when 
intelligently  prosecuted,  involves  a  large  share  of 
bodily  activities,  with  a  wide  range  of  intellectual 
and  scientific  inquiry,  deserves  more  attention  than 
the  present  age  accords  to  it.  One  of  the  great- 
est mistakes  of  the  times  is,  that  "  anybody  has 
sense  enough  to  be  a  farmer  ; "  that  it  is  a  pursuit 
which  can  be  taken  up  and  sucoessfully  prosecuted 
without  pre-culture. 


328  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

Never  allow  a  child  to  be  put  to  sleep  by  any 
servant,  on  any  pretence  whatever,  nor  permit  it  to 
go  to  sleep  at  any  other  than  the  regular  time ;  and 
then  put  the  child  to  sleep  yourself,  and,  if  properly 
managed,  all  that  you  have  to  do  is,  to  take  the 
child  to  a  quiet,  darkened  room,  place  it  in  the  bed, 
with  a  few  affectionate  words,  uttered  in  a  kindly 
tone,  leave  it,  and  it  will  be  asleep  in  five  minutes, 
without  rocking,  singing,  coaxing,  or  anything  else. 

Celibacy  is  the  ruin  of  any  nation  ;  it  is  a  greater 
moral  curse  than  drunkenness  ever  has  been ;  and 
the  parent  who  countenances  it,  is,  to  that  extent, 
his  child's  worst  enemy,  whether  that  child  be  son 
or  daughter. 

Climate  is  constantly  changing.  The  constitu- 
tions of  men  are  constantly  changing.  The  habits 
of  society  are  constantly  changing.  The  circum- 
stances and  conditions  of  domestic  life  are  con- 
stantly changing.  Such  being  the  case,  that 
practitioner  cannot  command  success  who  admin- 
isters to-day  the  same  remedy  for  the  same  symp- 
tom which  he  did  twenty  years  ago.  Every 
observant  physician  knows  that  the  types  of  disease 
vary  from  year  to  year,  and  he  is  the  most  success- 
ful man  who  earliest  notices  that  change,  and  ju- 
diciously adapts  his  remedies  to  it.  This  is  the 
key  to  successful  practice  everywhere.  This 
gives  "  eminence "  to  men  of  the  time,  and  we 
want  their  experience  and  "  prescriptions." 


DB.  hall's  maxims.  329 

The  less  you  wear  at  night,  the  more  good  will 
your  clothing  do  you  in  the  daytime.  Those  who 
wear  a  great  deal  of  clothing  at  night,  must  wear 
that  much  more  in  the  day,  or  they  will  feel  chilly 
all  the  time  ;  and  our  own  observation  teaches  us 
that  the  people  who  muffle  up  most  are  the  most  to 
complain  of  taking  cold.  But  why  wear  flannel 
next  to  the  skin,  in  preference  to  silk  or  cotton  ? 
Because  it  is  warmer ;  it  conveys  heat  away  from 
the  body  less  rapidly  ;  does  it  so  slowly,  that  it  is 
called  a  non-conductor ;  it  feels  less  cold  when  we 
touch  it  to  the  skin  than  silk  or  cotton.  If  the 
three  are  wetted,  the  flannel  feels  less  cold  at  the 
first  touch,  and  gets  warm  sooner  than  silk  or  cotton, 
and  does  not  cling  to  the  skin  when  damp  as  much 
as  they  do. 

At  a  tea  party  of  sixty  old  women  in  England,  it 
was  ascertained  that  they  were  the  mothers  of 
eight  hundred  and  sixty-nine  children.  The  pre- 
sumption is,  that  these  women  were  tea-drinkers 
habitually,  and  it  is  equally  inferable  that  they  did 
not  drink  it  very  "  weak ;  "  yet  they  were  healthy 
enough  to  be  old,  and  healthv  enough  to  be  the 
mothers  of  large  families.  A  a  isolated  fact  proves 
nothing,  but  this  one  is  suggestive.  It  is,  then, 
safer  and  healthier  to  take  a  cup  of  warm  tea  for 
supper  than  a  glass  of  cold  water.  With  our  habits 
of  hearty  suppers,  it  is  better  to  take  a  cup  of  warm 
tea  than  to  take  no  drink  at  aU. 


330  DB.  hall's  maxims. 

Far  back  in  the  present  century,  a  young  man 
asked  for  employment  in  the  United  States  Armory 
at  Springfield,  Massachusetts ;  but  he  was  poor, 
and  modest,  and  had  no  friends,  so  he  went  away 
without  it;  but,  feeling  the  man  within  him,  he 
sought  work,  until  he  found  it.  An  age  later,  he 
visited  that  armory  the  second  time,  not  as  a  com- 
mon day-laborer,  but  aa  the  ablest  speaker  of  the 
House  of  Representatives  for  many  years  at  Wash- 
ington. Go  to,  ye  dandified,  kid-gloved,  soft-headed, 
lady-tending  numskulls,  begin  life  over  again,  if 
you  wish  to  leave  your  mark  on  the  world's  his- 
tory, by  earning  your  first  dinner  in  honorable 
labor ;  and  resolve,  that  what  you  eat,  and  drink, 
and  wear,  from  this  day  forward,  shall  be  from  your 
own  earnings,  and  you  will  yet  die  men. 

If  people  were  blessed  with  common  sense,  and 
a  little  wholesome  self-denial,  they  might  often 
escape  severe  colds  and  fevers  by  resolute  measures 
adopted  in  season. 

It  is  too  much  the  custon  to  measure  one's  health 
by  the  avidity  of  his  appetite  and  his  increase  in 
flesh,  as  if  he  were  a  pig ;  forgetting  that  a  vora- 
cious appetite  and  fat  are  always  indications  of  a 
diseased  body.  A  uniform,  moderate  appetite  is  the 
attendant  of  good  health.  A  racer's  ribs  must  be 
seen  before  he  is  fit  for  the  track,  because  then  ha 
is  most  capable  of  endurance. 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  831 

The  immoderate  use  of  cold  water  is  prejudicial  to 
health,  whether  as  a  drink  or  a  lavement,  and  so  is 
the  immoderate  use  of  bread  and  butter.  It  is  the 
argument  of  a  fanatic  to  say,  that  because  the 
excessive  use  of  anything  is  injurious,  it  should, 
therefore,  be  discarded  altogether. 

If  churches  are  chilly,  the  sooner  you  get  out 
after  service,  and  walk  briskly,  so  as  to  wake  up 
the  circulation,  the  greater  will  be  your  chances 
of  not  taking  cold. 


CONCLUSION. 

Whatever  is  done  to  promote  the  circulation  of 
this  book,  will  be  a  public  good,  for  the  time  has 
come  when  the  study  of  the  health  must  become 
an  essential  branch  of  primary  education;  every 
year  increases  the  necessity.  Our  fathers  and 
mothers  were  hale  and  hearty  at  sixty,  seventy, 
or  eighty  years  of  age,  and  yet  they  never 
bothered  themselves  about  the  liver,  and  stomach, 
and  digestion,  and  brown  bread  and  baths,  and 
hair  brushes ;  they  lived  in  blissful  ignorance 
of  the  locality  of  the  liver,  "  lights,"  or  anything 
else  than  the  stomach ;  the  whereabouts  of  "  that 
animal,"  they  were  regularly  and  pleasurably 
reminded  of  three  times  a-day;   but  not  so  with 


332  DR.  hall's  maxims. 

us,  their  degenerate  sons,  whose  houses  are  cum* 
bered  with  double  sashes  to  keep  all  the  pure  air 
out,  while  every  pains  is  taken  to  keep  the  foul 
air  in;  with  patent  ahower-baths,  to  chill  us  to 
death ;  with  hot-air  furnaces,  to  stew  us  with 
their  stifling,  humid  heat;  with  carpets,  to  hide 
dust  and  dirt,  to  harbor  dampness  and  noxious 
gases ;  and  lazy,  loafing  rocking-chairs,  to  insure 
three  crooks  in  every  spine ;  and  cushioned  ot- 
tomans, sofas,  lounges,  fauteuilles,  vis-a-vis,  and 
d  great  many  other  French  things,  to  engender 
constipations,  piles,  fistulas,  and  lingering  death. 
They  indeed  lived  in  log  houses,  and  sat  by  roar- 
ing wood  fires,  feasted  on  plain  "  hog  and  hom- 
miny,"  used  burnt  bread-crust  for  coffee,  drank 
"  yerb  teas  "  instead  of  "  store  tea,''  wove  flax  and 
linsey-woolsey,  and  manufactured  what  they  wore 
in  the  loom-house,  which  was  considered  as  indis- 
pensable an  appendage  to  a  dwelling  as  a  kitchen ; 
they  went  to  bed  a  little  after  "  candle-light,"  and 
rose  at  the  "  crack  of  day,"  working  steady  in  the 
open  air  from  "  morning  to  night,"  beginning  their 
"  Sabbath  "  at  Saturday  sundown,  walking  across 
the  fields  "  to  meeting "  on  Sunday  morning,  tak- 
ing a  light  lunch  at  noon  under  the  shady  trees 
in  the  churchyard;  not  so  engorging  themselves 
with  a  rich  Sunday  dinner,  of  extra  invitingness, 
as  to  render  them  so  insufferably  stupid  and  sleepy 
during  the  whole  of  the  afternoon,  as  to  cause  it 


DR.  hall's  maxims.  33S 

to  be  made  "fashionable"  to  have  no  "preach- 
ing "  in  the  afternoon ;  but  to  snore  it  out  at  home, 
in  blissful  security  of  its  ever  being  known  by  the 
interruption  of  comers-in,  because  it  isn't  pious 
"  to  visit  on  Sundays." 

Persons  who  have  lived  thus,  regularly,  indus- 
triously, temperately,  religiously,  can  well  afford 
to  be  ignorant  of  the  laws  of  health,  and  the  pre- 
cautions necessary  to  preserve  it  to  modern  livers ; 
for  to  those  who  live  naturally,  Nature  is  a  self- 
regulator;  her  instincts  are  a  guide  and  a  safe- 
guard as  to  health  and  disease.  But  men,  whose 
whole  lives  are  artificial,  must  study  how  to  pre- 
serve the  health  under  such  artificial  circumstan- 
ces, or  the  race  will  die  out ;  and  nothing  else  can 
prevent  it  except  intermarriage  among  hardier 
tribes.  But  where  are  they  to  come  from  ?  Civ- 
ilization is  deteriorating  the  physique  of  the 
nations  across  the  waters  as  well  as  here.  Be 
assured,  reader,  that  the  only  remedy  for  the 
physical  salvation  of  man  is  to  secure  a  practical 
intelligence  as  to  the  laws  of  his  being ;  and  such 
is  the  designed  tendency  of  this  book;   and  we 

HOPE  IT  WILL  HAVE  A  TREMENDOUS  SALE,  BECAUSE 
WE  WROTE  IT,  AND  FIRMLY  BELIEVE  IT  TO  BE  A  VERY, 
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The  New  Prodigal.    By  Stephen  Paul  Sheffield. 

Pere  Goriot.    By  Honore  de  Balzac.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 

A  Strange  Infatuation.  By  Lewis  Harrison.  Illustrated.  Paper  and  cloth. 

Journal   of  Marie    Bashkirtseif.    Only  unabridged  edition  published. 

Cloth,  $2.00;  half  morocco,  $3.50. 
Numa  Koumestan.    By  A.  Daudet.    Illustrated.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
Fabian  Dimitry.    By  Edgar  Eawcett.    Paper  and  cloth. 
In  liOve'B  Domains.    By  Mahah  Ellis  Ryan. 
Spirite.    By  Theophilb  Gautiee.    Illustrated.     Double  number.     Hall 

morocco,  gilt  top,  $2.00. 
The  Romance  of  a  Spahi.    By  Pieeee  Loti.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
The  Gladiators.    By  G.  J.  Whyte-Melvillb.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
The  Chonans.    By  Honohe  de  Balzac.    Illustrated.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
Criquette.    By  Ludovic  Halevy.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
Told  in  the  Hills.    By  Marah  Ellis  Ryan. 
A  Modern  Rosalind.    By  F.  Xaviee  Calvbet. 
A  Fair  American.    By  Pierre  Sales. 
Fontenay,  the  sWordsman.    By  Fortune  du  Boisqobby. 
The  Sign-Board  and  other  Stories.    By  Masson,  Souvestrb,  Gautier, 

A  Pagan  of  the  Alleghanies.    By  Mabah  Ellis  Ryan.    Half  morocco, 

$1.50. 
For  the  Old  Sake's  Sake.    By  Alan  St.  Aubyn. 
Into  Morocco.    By  Pierre  Loti.    Illustrated.    Half  morocco,  $1.50. 
The  Light  of  Asia.    By  SiR  Edwin  Arnold.   Cloth,  $1.50.    Half  morocco, 

$2.50. 
Wolverton;  or.  The  Modern  Arena.    By  D.  A.  Reynolds.    Cloth,  $1.00. 
All  for  Jack.    By  Jxtleb  Clabetib. 


RAND,   McNALLY  &    CO.,   Publishers, 

CHICAGO    AND    NEW    YORK. 


DATE  DUE 


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A     000  510  209     0         l^., 


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WB  930 
H   I8lf 
1892 
Hall:  Fun  better  than  physic 


WB  930 
H   I8lf 
1892 
Hall:  Fun  better  than  physic 


UCi  CCM  LIBRARY 


